Sudarshan Choudhury, who was elected president of the Student Government Association (SGA) on April 25, 2019, has stepped down from his role due to a personal familial emergency.
According to the SGA Constitution, the president pro tempore ascends to the roles of presidency if the president is unable to fulfill their duties or must step down for any reason. The president pro tempore position is filled by an elected senator who is then nominated by the president and requires a 2/3 majority vote of the senate to be selected.
In the case of Zack Abt, he was elected as the senator for the departments of Justice, Social Inquiry, and Human Behavior and Diversity.
Thursday, Sept. 19, will be when Abt is sworn in as president. His choice for president pro tempore is Sam Moscatelli, currently a senator for the departments of Communicating Arts, Music, Visual Arts, English, and World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. Moscatelli previously ran for president in spring 2018.
Photo by Kayless Chalmers
“I plan to get committees up and running within SGA, and as an organization we are planning on preparing for fall election and the UW-Systems meeting that will be held in Superior for the first time ever this October,” said Abt when asked what his main goals are after assuming the role of president. These committees include the Student Judicial Committee, Student Affairs Committee, and the Segregated University Fees Allocation Committee.
Choudhury had many goals after winning the election last spring including “finding out why online tuition rates are so high, fixing SUFAC bylaws, and finding better solutions to make the campus more sustainable.” When asked about his predecessor’s goals, Abt said “I plan, to the best of my ability, to pursue those goals and achieve what he set the ground work for.”
“As of late, the student body and the SGA have been better about communicating issues on campus, and we plan to keep this line of communication going,” said Abt. He continued, “We hope that with the addition of ‘Jacket Hub and other tools the campus has added we can discover and address issues sooner and more often, as well.”
Per SGA bylaws, Abt will remain the president for the 2019-2020 school year, regardless if Choudhury returns to campus. However, Choudhury can choose to re-run for the presidency in the 2020-2021 school year during the spring elections.
If you are interested in more information about SGA, they meet every other Thursday, starting Sept. 19 at 6:00 p.m. in the Yellowjacket Union. Meetings are free and open to the public.
