By Abigail Passafiume
The Student Association Senate swore in three new senators to fill vacant seats and approved extra funding for SUNY Plattsburgh Dance Corps at its first meeting of the semester on Feb. 5.
Dominick Andre, Kayla Alonzo and Jack Sweet shared their reasons for accepting their positions as Senators before Student Association President Gooding led them in their oath of office.
Andre, a student in the five-year History Adolescence Education program, learned he liked working with the public after he worked at Wead Public Library in Malone, New York for several years before coming to SUNY Plattsburgh.
“This would be my first position in student government. I’ve never done this before, but I also want to make some sort of difference,” Andre said.
Sweet is also an Adolescent Education major with a focus in history, from Glens Falls, New York. He currently works on the New York State Governor’s youth council and has dreams of eventually becoming an academic superintendent.
New senators Andre, Alonzo and Sweet are expected to contribute to develop plans for the Student Association and represent the student body’s interests in upcoming meetings.
The Senate also approved $2000 in extra funding for Dance Corps’ upcoming competition at Cortland High School.
Kaitlyn Ryan, president of SUNY Plattsburgh’s Dance Corps, explained the benefits of attending the competition and the support the extra funding would provide for them in regards to travel and hotel cost.
“Dance Corps attended this competition two years ago. It was a great bonding experience for us—I really felt that it brought the team all together,” Ryan said.
The 23 member team will travel from Plattsburgh to Cortland today and will compete tomorrow. The team was unable to attend last year, but in 2023 it placed first with its team hip-hop dance and won a special award for its high energy.
“We are hoping this year, by bringing more dances, that we’ll have a better chance to compete in more categories and bring home more trophies,” Ryan said.
President Gooding reminded the Senate about its upcoming tabling opportunity at the involvement fair on Friday, Feb. 7.
“I think it’s really important that we actually be out there and better promote the SA as a whole, especially together,” Gooding said.
