Election season for the Student Government Association (SGA) is a big part of the year at Saint Louis University (SLU). The newly elected president will be the voice for those in the SLU community and ensures that every student is heard. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the candidates for SGA president, Reueline Arulanandam, and learn more about her goals if she were to become SGA president.
Kirti Madhu, Marketing Assistant for Her Campus SLU (HC): To start, tell me a little bit about yourself!
Reueline Arulanandam (RA): My name is Reueline, and I am a junior studying Public Health, with minors in Political Science and Urban Poverty Studies. I am involved in SGA, Oriflamme, Campus Ministry, research and I am a University Ambassador. In my free time I love to read and co-host a podcast with my friend (“Hot Takes and Minor Mistakes”).
HC: Awesome! Clearly, you are very involved in the SLU community. Why are you running for SGA president?
RA: For where we are at right now as a campus, I think we need a fresh perspective on issues facing students. A lot of amazing leaders who have come before me have done a lot of good work, and I want to continue this but also offer new solutions. There is a tendency for people in leadership to only surround themselves with those who think like themselves; this is something I don’t want to do. Instead, I want to ensure that I include other diverse perspectives.
HC: What initiatives do you plan to implement during your term if elected?
RA: Firstly, for academics, I would like to work towards fixing bias towards minority students and international students. I want to work towards finding a more streamlined way to hold faculty and others accountable. I also want to improve graduate student support. There has been an increase in the graduate student population. I think that it is important to emphasize collaboration between cultural/identity-based organizations and graduate students to provide resources to this population of students, as well.
Student housing is another issue I would like to address if I become SGA president. I would like to work towards making housing affordable. SGA has excess funding that isn’t used by the end of the year so I would want to see where this could go by collaborating with administrators, faculty and students to identify gaps in our SLU community.
I also want to emphasize the purpose and role of SGA. Many students don’t know how unique SGA at SLU is in the sense that students do have a voice. I want to advertise to students the resources that they have access to and the role SGA takes in hearing students and taking action.
HC: Outside of those issues that you want to address, are there any specific problems that you have noticed or experienced on campus that you think would be important to tackle if you become SGA president?
I have noticed that student voice in higher education tends to be made up of the same 5-6 leaders (usually minorities) who are asked to do things that can feel tokenizing to be that person in the room. I want to expand that circle of leaders who are asked to be at the table and make it more representative of the SLU community and emphasize that if the student is in the room they can have an active presence and are not there to be a poster child.
HC: As president, you would be considered the voice of the students. How do you plan on advocating for the interests and concerns of the student body?
RA: First, I recognize that I don’t have all of the answers. I think it’s really important to talk to the student body to be able to recognize the things they need. A lot of being a leader is stepping back and listening to others. Being in constant communication with what students need at a specific moment and acting based on that feedback, instead of just the opinions of a few people is something that I hold a lot of importance to. I also want to make sure that as SGA as a whole, we are being inclusive about which students are asked to sit on different committees and share their experiences.
HC: Now time for a fun question! Who is your biggest inspiration, especially when thinking about taking on a big position like this and why?
RA: I would say Michelle Obama because even though she wasn’t president she has always done a good job of humbling herself to her community. She always makes it a point to ask how she can be better and gets feedback from diverse perspectives, which I really admire.
Voting will happen on Feb. 28 and 29 on SLU Groups. The student body as a whole can decide who will be their next SGA president.