by: Erin Morrison
The Student Government Association (SGA) held voting for their elections on Sept. 16, 17 and 18. They now have all the executive positions filled, and five out of the ten senator positions are filled.
Some of the recently elected officers are brand new to student government, including Dustin Payton. After running and being elected, Payton became one of Parkland’s newest senators two weeks ago.
“I thought it was a good time to take responsibility for my direction in life and also contribute to others,” he said. Payton originally chose to come to Parkland because he wanted to pursue an education for his future. When he came to Illinois, he had a director at the Veterans Affairs hospital recommend Parkland College. “She had nothing but good things to say about it [Parkland].” When he came to visit the college, he liked the feeling of the school. It felt right to him, and the rest, he said, was history. He is now studying business administration.
Payton said his duties as a senator are, “to be the voice of the student body and to stand up for their rights and express their concerns.” He hopes that Parkland’s students feel that they have encouragement and motivation.
The SGA also had elections last spring. Another recently elected member is Stivenson Jean-Baptiste. He is also a senator and has been since April of 2019. Jean-Baptiste came to Parkland when he was looking to go to school. The student senator finds Parkland to be a friendly place and an affordable and conveniently located option. He is currently studying business.
As a senator, Jean-Baptiste finds it is his duty to represent the college and to speak for those that cannot speak. “I want to represent the college. I want to be a leader for the community,” he said on why he ran for student government. “I wanted to be the voice of the people.” This is also his favorite thing about being on student government. “Knowing that I can talk for people, knowing that I can represent the college, knowing that my voice is for people who really want to say something. They come talk to me,” he said.
Currently, Jean-Baptiste finds sustainability to be an important topic, and he hopes that people can go green.
Another member of the Student Government Association is Victoire Mukumayi. Originally elected as a senator in 2018, and then became the vice president of the association. He kept that position for three months until two weeks ago, when he became the student body’s president.
“My favorite thing is seeing the amount of help we provide to people,” he said. Mukumayi is passionate about providing help to the students of Parkland. “I wanted to be on student government because I wanted to help people,” he said. He is at Parkland to study electrical engineering. He came here because he considers Parkland to be one of the best colleges in central Illinois. He also had a family member who previously attended Parkland and recommended it to him.
He hopes that Parkland is a diverse place where everyone feels comfortable. “We want everyone to feel safe, and we want everyone to feel welcome,” he said. He hopes that students come to the college and instead of feeling like they are starting at the bottom, they can be more involved with school and take advantage of the opportunities Parkland has to offer.
The Student Government Association holds meetings every Thursday at 1 p.m. in Student Life. They give announcements and discuss issues brought to the table as well as upcoming events that they are hosting.
