The Student Association, commonly known as SA or Senate, of SUNY Oswego is the proclaimed “student government on campus,” according to the university’s official website. With each academic year, new ideas, initiatives and addresses are drafted and proposed, and the 2023-24 year saw the creation, fruition and development of various legislative pieces regarding university affairs.

The Senate of SUNY Oswego, per the organization’s mission statement, “seeks to empower and represent the voice of the students… at Oswego. [The organization’s] purpose is to promote the needs and wants of the students while also overseeing the funding of many clubs and organizations on campus.” 

Vice President Oghenetega Adjoh, who facilitates the legislative body of The Senate, elaborated that though the organization cooperates amongst three government branches and many student senators, The Senate operates with the advocacy of Oswego students as its fundamental priority.

“When I entered this position, I let the senators know that we are here to serve the student body,” Adjoh said. “We are here to advocate for the student body, and that’s basically all we care about.”

Initiatives proposed by The Senate are tied to student affairs and conditions that may hinder the prosperity of the student body. Though they may not be massive in magnitude, the focus brought to the fluid synchrony of the student-university dynamic ensures a more refined college experience. Adjoh explained how these bumps in student efficiency may arise from even nuisances that seem less than important.

Initiatives proposed by the senate concern student affairs and conditions that may hinder the prosperity of the student body. Though they may not be massive in magnitude, the focus brought to the fluid synchronicity of the student-university dynamic ensures a more refined college experience. Adjoh explained how these bumps in student efficiency may arise from seemingly insignificant nuisances.

“Last semester, the line at Cooper dining hall was really long during wing Wednesdays,” Adjoh said. “I said in our senator group chat, ‘Would any of you guys be open to writing a resolution?’ and Senator Kelly said, ‘Yeah, sure, sure!’ And we wrote a resolution stating that the dining hall being that way does not make an effective student.”

“A student has to give up something to just to go to the dining hall,” Adjoh said. “I felt like every student should have the avenue to go eat and right after, to go study. They shouldn’t have to wait in line for an hour, an hour and a half just to get food and then maybe find seating. The senator wrote the resolution, [then] I took it up to the director of Auxiliary Services and had that meeting with him, basically just stating what was already said in the resolution and being like, it’s not fair, it doesn’t make a balanced student.”

Though the efforts of SA are further recognized when impacts are easily observable such as the reduction in wait times, the organization also creates more implicit opportunities that allow for the student body’s gratification. Last semester, the “Donate a Meal” fundraiser allowed students to voluntarily donate a meal by relinquishing an ID swipe for one night, though still having access to online food ordering via the Get mobile app.

“Last semester, it was for humanitarian efforts in the Middle East, we picked the Red Cross,” Adjoh said. “[It’s] just for students to feel like they’re helping out and doing something greater than them. [It wasn’t only] for my personal satisfaction but I feel for everyone to [know] that there are people outside of Oswego, outside of the United States, that need help as well. We raised over a thousand dollars last semester, and the proceeds went to aid in the Middle East.”

Current initiatives by SA are still in the works. Similar to other government processes such as the amendment of a bill or the introduction of new legislation, the university campus has to ensure its due diligence in data and student opinion acquisition. During the fall 2023 semester, the senate held public polling for “women-only” gym hours, a responsibility that Adjoh states is still being conducted due to the proposal’s separatory nature.

“There were debates in [the] Senate that this [initiative] excludes a certain population from using the gym at this certain time,” Adjoh said. “We’re kind of at the middle right now, because now we are fixing the question of ‘How can we be inclusive to move forward with this initiative?’ We are at that middle ground trying to navigate that, trying to reform the idea that is inclusive but still creates a safe space for certain populations. And this doesn’t only pertain to women, we want it to pertain to people who are non-binary [as well].”

“At the end of the day, we’re just students,” Adjoh said. “We do not have the necessary information or know the necessary terms or have the best knowledge on making an informed decision. This is our research phase, where we’re talking [with] so many people, getting feedback on how we can make this inclusive. We want this to come to fruition, but we still don’t want it to affect any population as well.”

Along with this project, SA is attempting to build on two other pillars consistently in the public eye not only on-campus but at a nationwide level: equity and checks and balances.

“Me and a couple of senators are working to promote equitable decision-making,” Adjoh said. “When you’re in a meeting that makes decisions on behalf of the student body, there should be some form of diversity in that meeting. Our goal is to promote equitable decision-making, and we’re going to write a bill to kind of reform a previous [one] that we had about certain representatives in certain committees and how we can make that more inclusive.”

“Last semester when I first started my job, I said to everybody, ‘One thing that we’re going to hone down on is inclusivity, diversity, equity and access,’ and [this initiative] is one of the steps that we are taking, we’re going to reform a bill to make sure that it is inclusive to everybody and equitable decision-making is coming out of the committee.”

Following a government structure and overseeing the university’s clubs and organizations, Adjoh and SA’s other goal rests in an anticipatory, not reactionary, step towards bettering the institution by ensuring a robust safety net system that would approach student group conduct violations.

“We want to build up a policy to check and balance clubs,” Adjoh said. “If an organization is causing civil unrest on campus and in some way affecting a certain demographic from being able to achieve their potential at SUNY Oswego, the question is, ‘Should that organization still stand?’ if it’s not actually benefiting the student body. 

“Our goal is to create a committee that reviews issues like this, that call into question the accreditation of organizations who do this to certain demographics and the student body,” Adjoh said. “How can you be an organization that is supposed to promote student life and the student body but you’re not doing your job and you’re doing the opposite of that? But they’re still given a space to do that when other people are being affected by it.”

Though the initiatives of SA address current issues at the university, their implementation is not black and white. Similar to the women-only gym hours, having the power to extensively regulate on-campus clubs and organizations requires careful management and a systematic approach. Thus, other projects beyond the discussion of inclusivity, equity and organization management are not at the forefront of SA’s agenda.

Nonetheless, SA still operates to fulfill its current roster of projects, intending to someday benefit the enrolled students of the university through its initiative in the works.

“We are in these positions to serve and to better the student body and never forgetting that that is what we are doing,” Adjoh said.

Photo via: SUNY Oswego