Meet your SGA President and Vice President!

Sutliff and Waller show enthusiasm

**President Jamie Sutliff and VP Peter Waller are available to students in Tivoli 301.**
Photo: Amanda Blackman · The Sentry

For many CU Denver students, a sense of connection to campus is lacking, and the Student Government Association (SGA)’s current President and Vice President, Jamie Sutliff and Peter Waller want to change that this academic year.

SGA’s main purpose is to voice student comments and concerns, with the President and Vice President representing the CU Denver student body to higher administration on a system-wide platform.

“We petition on behalf of student initiatives,” Waller said regarding the main roles of SGA’s executive branch.

The duo began their careers in SGA with the intent to reach students and make an impact in their everyday lives as CU Denver students. Sutliff’s time serving in SGA began in 2016 on the Legislation and Outreach Committee, becoming the committee chair in 2018, when Waller joined.

“She’s probably one of the most passionate people I’ve seen in SGA,” said Waller of Sutliff. Her three years in Legislation and Outreach taught her how to navigate SGA and ways to best meet students’ needs.

“Peter was active from the beginning,” said Sutliff. “He is passionate about wanting to make a change.”

In early 2019, the duo began to toss around the idea of running for the executive ticket. With their combined passion for increasing campus connectedness serving as the foundation for their campaign, they set out to inform students of their goals for connecting the campus and increasing sustainability efforts.

Now elected by the student body, Sutliff and Waller are turning their words into actions—some of which have been completed in less than one month into the academic year.

“We’re trying to build connectedness and community from the start,” Waller said. Sutliff and Waller plan on enacting tangible methods for students to become involved from the first moments they step onto the Auraria campus.

This year, Sutliff and Waller worked to redesign “Convocation,” the official welcoming ceremony for incoming freshman and transfer students. By increasing the number of student organizations there, the opportunity for creating connections increases. They have also been working on plans to implement similar strategies for redesigning all new student orientations.

Additionally, Sutliff and Waller will be overseeing the roll out of Greek Life for CU Denver students throughout this academic year. Ensuring a smooth roll out of the program has the potential to create an even stronger sense of community on campus.

Beyond enhancing connectedness, Sutliff and Waller have plans to voice other student concerns to higher administration, such as increasing campuswide sustainability efforts. Their plans include spreading composting into all CU Denver buildings, reducing waste in offices across campus through the Green Office Initiative, and work to get a sustainability representative to serve on SGA.

“This is really important,” said Sutliff, on increasing sustainability measures.

Sutliff and Waller encourage students who want to learn more about their efforts to walk into the SGA office in Tivoli 301 at any time.

“One of us is always in here,” said Waller. “Students walk in all the time. Be one of them.”