The Student Government Assembly (SGA) re-appointed Stephannie Starr to the body and continued to fill vacant positions after months of fluctuation on Monday.
Starr reclaimed her position as vice president of diversity after the body removed her for not meeting the unit requirement. According to the SGA bylaws, student representatives enroll in at least 5 units.
Members raised concerns that Starr had accumulated enough absences during her previous time in the roll of vice president of diversity to be disappointed automatically.
Starr, who has had difficulty making meetings due to health issues, reassured other representatives of her ability to fulfill her job.
“I’ve done quite a few things to make this semester smoother and better as far as attendance,” said Starr. “I spoke with various members letting them know my daughter is also going to email you when I’m going to be absent. I have my laptop that I can now take with me everywhere so I can do my classwork wherever I need to, like when I’m doing my treatment.”
Starr discussed her other methods of self-care and her hopes for the SGA to give her a chance to have her role back.
President Evelyn Navarro voiced support for Starr’s reappointment.
Navarro said, “I had a one-on-one with Stephanie, simply stating that there would be more accountability in informing us—if someone is appointed to this body—of their absences or excused absences, or inability to be here due to their health issues.”
She said it was important for members to make meetings in order to do business. “This goes for everyone here: if you are missing meetings, you are affecting quorum.”
The first shake-up to the roster occurred in November when the SGA removed Shae Koberle as vice president of sustainability for excessive absences. The body re-appointed her in December until she stepped down last month.
Robert Martinez left his position as vice president of committees to replace Sabrina Rawson, who also resigned in December, as student trustee. JC Zhang, formerly the director of clubs in Petaluma, filled the position left vacant by Omar Gutierrez when he resigned last semester.
At the start of the spring semester, the SGA had also lost Vice President of Marketing Rodrigo Alarcón, Vice President of Student Health Ryan Sansome and non-voting Assembly Member of Mental Health Kayla Dias.
The Assembly has since appointed Sophia Porter as vice president of sustainability, Eduardo Osorio Juarez as vice president of committees, Anamaría Morales as vice president of marketing and Shawn Hartshorn as vice president of clubs in Petaluma.
The vice president of student health position remains vacant.
Morales is known for her efforts to raise money for the SRJC Latine community by designing and selling her “SO-CO STRONG” hats after the fires last fall.
“I wish to fund low-income students from Hispanic background[s] at Santa Rosa Junior College,” Morales said in a November Facebook post. “Even just a little money helps during these tough times. I have created these ‘SO-CO STRONG’ baseball caps to create scholarships for low-income Hispanic students and/or faculty members at SRJC who have lost their homes in the fires.”
When Juarez was appointed last week, he spoke about his hopes in his new position.
“I want people to be able to collaborate, talk about social justice issues and truly dissect every little possibility, so we can move forward, progress and have a broader understanding of what we need to build a community and work toward the same goals,” Juarez said.
