Between the Senate impeachment hearings and a series of club conflicts, last year—specifically, the Spring 2023 semester—proved to be an eventful one for Stockton University’s Student Senate. However, the end of the Spring semester also saw the appointment of President Andrea Sandoval, an Environmental Science student and former Student Senate Student Affairs Chairperson who now leads her new cabinet with the hopes of properly serving Stockton’s student body. In order to better understand how the events of last year have impacted the current Senate and gain insight into their plans for the academic year, a representative from The Argo virtually met with Sandoval on Thursday, September 21, 2023.

Each summer, the Senate gathers to conduct officer training and planning for the upcoming school year. When asked what topics the Senate discussed during this year’s planning sessions, Sandoval replied that professional development and leadership training was their main focus.

“This summer, we’ve been mostly focused on getting everyone prepared, [and] making sure they understand their tasks, especially since it’s a hard position to get into if you don’t really know, or if it’s your first time…but some of the things we talked about over the summer was professional development. I had the executive board take personality tests to see what their leadership skills are…[and] to see what their strengths and weaknesses are,” said Sandoval. “We’re still learning some things, I’m still learning things…but we got off to the right start.”

She also stated that these summer sessions also included helping plan the upcoming President’s Barbeque, as well as Stockton’s Welcome Week, promoting Student Senate to EOF students.

Within the first few weeks of the fall semester, the Senate also appeared to have set its sights on the future of Stockton’s Atlantic City campus. In light of her fellow senators’ concerns on the implications that further expansion may have on the University’s already tight budget, Sandoval expressed that, in her personal opinion, the University may benefit from investing in existing facilities, rather than building new ones. “I think it’s a good idea, but for me, I feel like there needs to be a lot more focus on what’s in Atlantic City right now, like getting more classes into the academic building or fixing up whatever needs to be fixed at Kesselman [Hall],” she said.

“I think it would be important to see what they can do…[with] what they have right now, rather than focusing on what they can expand on,” Sandoval continued. “At least building-wise—I think it’s also important to focus too on Galloway, because there are some things that need to be renovated or repaired…for me, personally, it kind of feels like they’re jumping around a bit. It’s not a bad thing that they’re having all of these ideas…but I think they just need to settle a bit and work with what they have right now.”

Student Senate, which is intended to act as a liaison between the administration and the student body, does have some representation within the Atlantic City Campus Phase III Presidential Task Force. According to Sandoval, Senate Vice President Garret Testut and BOT Student Trustee Juan Diego Chaparro Villarreal represent the student body in talks surrounding Phase III developments, which is why the Senate was able to begin this conversation in the first place. “I don’t really know much about it, but they’re [Testut and Chaparro Villarreal] on it, and they’re great. They’re both great,” she said.

While the Senate appears to be preparing for a productive academic year, many of the aforementioned controversies of the Spring semester have gone largely unaddressed by the Senate—which is still comprised of many of the same Senators as last year—leaving some at Stockton with a shaken perception of the University’s student government. Sandoval emphasized the importance of professional development training in repairing the Senate’s image in the eyes of the community, stating that “we want to better ourselves because we are the voices of the student body, and we don’t want the student body to think that the voice of the student body is being immature, or doesn’t know how to act. That’s why we really want to focus on professional development. This year, when it comes to the Senators—especially the executive board—they’re awesome.”

One such controversy that occurred was between the Senate and the Caribbean Student Association (CSA); during one of the Senate’s final open meetings, the Senate denied CSA adequate funding to attend the Caribbean Scholars Association conference in St. Croix following a nearly hour-long debate. The incident sparked conversation on the issue’s potential racial undertones, with student and faculty leadership associated with CSA citing a “disconnect” between the Senate and certain multicultural groups and calling the Senate’s behavior “insultive.”

When asked to address this perceived disconnect and share any plans to ameliorate the issue going forward, Sandoval requested a brief recess to think on the matter; after a nearly 13-minute pause, Sandoval gave her response. “I really do want to emphasize that this is a new Student Senate and we’re really focused on learning and developing our professional skills…We’re not going to be perfect at our job, but we want to make sure that when we enter the room it’s with professionalism,” she said.

“Senate has created a rubric and is moving toward a more structured process so that funding requests can be applicable to all clubs and organizations [and] so that what happened with CSA doesn’t happen again,” said Sandoval, noting that from this semester on, Senate will follow a more “structured process with guidelines” when it comes to club requests. She also said that the Senate has been working closely with the University’s Multicultural Center, stating that “we’re hoping to work more closely with cultural clubs on campus…We want to make sure that we’re doing our part in making sure that those voices are heard, too, and with CSA we look forward to seeing their club grow…and we’re looking forward to seeing what they learned at the conference.”

However, when asked if she “phoned a friend” during the extended pause that preceded her reply, Sandoval admitted that she had spoken with Vice President Testut in order to formulate her answer, saying that “when it comes to making decisions, I want to make sure that I’m not just basing [them] on myself. I really want to emphasize talking with my executive board, too, when it comes to stuff like this. I care about what they think, and what they say is important to me.”

The conversation then shifted to another controversy from the previous semester: censorship concerns between The Argo and the Senate during last year’s impeachment hearing. The impeachment saw growing strain between student government and the student press, with former Senate Public Relations Chairperson Brandon Wildman barring Argo reporter Emily Hamilton from attending the open hearing, and the Argo’s editorial staff receiving intense pushback on their coverage on the matter in the form of texts and phone calls from former President Brianna Bracey. The conflict peaked with the Editor-in-Chief of The Argo receiving a screenshot from the Student Senate group chat claiming that the articles had been “used to degrade rather than to inform, and [that] many student[s] want it removed,” suggesting that there was a group of students amassing to have the publication censored.

When asked what she plans to do to protect student journalism on Stockton’s campus, Sandoval emphasized that it “was our first impeachment. So we really had no idea what was allowed to the public…and I think the PR Chair was told not to let anyone in because it was private, but then was told later on that it was okay. That was really just a miscommunication on our part. But I would like to apologize for that.”

“Student Senate is ready to prepare for bad press because it is student government…and we understand that the decisions we make won’t make everyone happy. Which is the unfortunate reality and stressful on my part and for everyone who is in the Senate, but we are prepared because we know what roles we are getting into.” She continued to emphasize that the Senate’s professional development training is meant to help Senators learn to process information before reacting, stating that “it is important to know when it is appropriate to react and how to react to certain situations…that’s something that I want to emphasize with them [Senate] just because I know what it’s like when emotions are high.”

“What happened with The Argo…We definitely don’t want that to happen again,” she said.

The interview concluded with some conversation on what kind of legacy Sandoval hopes to leave behind once her presidential term has been completed. She claimed that her experiences with the Student Senate have inspired her to potentially pursue a career in higher education, preferably in Student Affairs. “The one thing I love about talking with students and connecting with them is hearing their stories…So, I guess for me, I hope that my legacy at Stockton is that I make sure students feel seen and that they can relate to me as a way of knowing that everything is okay,” she said. “Stockton is always students first, and I love that. For me, it would also be students first.”

She later expanded upon her legacy in correspondence with The Argo, stating, “As Student Senate President, I hope my legacy is that I would have created a better connection between the Stockton community and Student Senate. Right now, I understand that we have run into conflicts these past few years, but we hope to not have a past reputation held against us. This year is a new Student Senate and we will work hard to provide students with a more comfortable environment and let them know they can come to Student Senate with questions or concerns. I also hope to let students know that anyone can be a student leader. Especially as an EOF student, I hope future EOF students who are interested in Student Senate or any student leader position know they can make it, too.”

To learn more about the Student Senate, check out their website. The Student Senate’s first open meeting of the semester will be held this Tuesday, September 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the Board of Trustees Room, located in the Campus Center.