By Marrissa Ballard | Managing Editor
Before Thanksgiving break, the Student Government Association met to select the senator who would be honored as the next ‘Senator Spotlight.’ However, they decided to honor two members this time: Edward Cullinane and Katherine Gillespie.
Cullinane, a freshman History and Secondary Education double major, says he was honored to receive the Spotlight as he has only been a senator since the election in September. “To already be recognized for my work is very rewarding,” Cullinane explains.
Cullinane is very excited to serve on SGA, as he hopes to help and represent the student body. “My main goal as a senator is to represent my fellow students and their concerns to better Salve as a whole,” says Cullinane.
In his role as senator, Cullinane serves on many committees, including the Activities Funding Board, the Public Relations Committee, and the Academic Affairs Committee. “Additionally, I am the SGA Representative on the Director of Residence Life and Off Campus Living Search Committee,” Cullinane says. Currently Cullinane’s largest project is serving in this new role on the Residence Life and Off Campus Living Search Committee. The Residence Life Committee is also working on adding more questions to the freshman housing survey to make the room draw process easier.
“I think SGA is incredibly important mainly because it provides a student’s voice to the administration,” Cullinane says. “I love serving as a Senator on SGA. I enjoy representing fellow students and helping to better Salve Regina.”
Katherine Gillespie, a sophomore Marketing major and Resident Advisor, also believes that SGA aims to improve students’ experiences here at Salve. “I think SGA is so important simply because it’s a group of individuals who came together because they care about people and making everyone’s experience here great,” Gillespie says.
Upon learning that she had been chosen for the spotlight, Gillespie was flattered. “Everyone on the senate works really hard to make student life at Salve even better so it was a huge compliment,” says Gillespie.
This year marks Gillespie’s second term as a senator. As a part of SGA, Gillespie serves on the Student Organization Recognition committee, and she is the chair-person for the Dining Services committee. Last year, she worked on the Activities Funding Board, the Public Relations committee, and the Resident Advisory committee. Currently the Dining Services committee is working with students to add more food into the dining halls. “As every committee does, we always want to hear what the students want, so we take that into consideration and bring it forward to make it happen,” Gillespie explains. Some recent changes include the new side salad added to the meal plan, and the new chicken parmesan sub sandwich.
More than anything, Gillespie wants the students of Salve to know that she is concerned about their ideas. “That’s what I hope I can do for students, be someone who cares and is willing to listen with an open mind,” Gillespie says. As both a senator and an RA, her main goal as a senator is to “hear out and speak for as many voices as possible.”
Gillespie wants to make Salve a better place through small changes. “It’s all about the little improvements that come together to make a large impact later on,” Gillespie explains. She also believes that SGA is a strong team that can make these improvements. “When you’re on a team where everyone has a similar goal in mind, it’s a pretty powerful force.”
