By Simon Cooper
Alex Alward was already a seasoned member of Frederick Community College’s Student Government Association when she was elected to the position of president in May.
Alward, 18, was the former vice president before she was officially elected to the president position of the organization. Her presidential term officially began on Aug. 1.
The SGA page on the official FCC website states that the goal of the association is to represent the voice of the student body, meaning that they elect student representatives to not only govern and oversee many of the college’s student activities such as trips, clubs, and events, but to promote students to express their concerns and needs and promote leadership skills among students.
“I really wanted to get involved on campus,” Alward said. “When I submitted my application and got into the vice president position for the SGA, it aided me to run for president this term because of the experience I got running as vice president. I knew from what learned last year would’ve helped me in the presidential position, so I wanted to run not only because I enjoyed it last year but because I knew I could make a difference as the president this year.”
Under Alward’s direction, SGA is trying to make more of a difference in students’ lives.
“What the SGA does is hold two public meetings a month available to anyone on campus,” Alward said. “We usually hold question sessions for students. This year, we asked about services on campus such as Title IX and mental health services. We take all that information we learn from students and take it to the president of FCC, where we then brainstorm ideas to present back to students and get their opinions.”
Alward said because of how this has been “the first real year the SGA has been back at FCC,” a major challenge for her has been growing student engagement back on campus.
But nevertheless, she has been hard at work in the background, making a large push towards promoting the food lockers in the student center and creating more awareness to Title IX and how colleges can provide resources and support for those in need.
“There’s a lot that goes on that students don’t see,” she said. “I work with the vice presidents of administration, communications, finance, and public relations and help them delegate their tasks. I work directly with staff to run internal meetings to see what they want us to talk about, like working with Dr. (Benita) Rashaw, our Title IX coordinator. I go to our cabinet and board of trustee meetings for the college and present our monthly reports on behalf of SGA to give the student perspectives for the FCC president, Dr. (Annesa) Cheek. I help run a lot of events in the student engagement center, and I help manage the student activity fee to delegate every club’s budget.”
