As the class of 2030 arrives at Elon, the Elon University Student Government Association is preparing for another year of representing students on campus.

SGA regularly works with university administration to advocate for student needs and allocate funding to student organizations. Junior Tyler Mastrangelo, vice president of communications, said that while some students may only know SGA for funding student organizations, SGA can be a connecting point for students.

“We exist to represent the rights of students and opinions of the student body,” Mastrangelo said. “To provide for the student activities and to work alongside faculty, and to be that connecting point for students who want to make a change.”

SGA Senate and Executive Board

The SGA Senate votes on proposed legislation, discusses student concerns, appoints executive positions and discusses large funding requests. Business meetings are open to all students, regardless of if they are involved in SGA.

Senators can represent their class years, academic colleges, or SGA initiatives like sustainability or HealthEU.

Senior Michael Swartz — executive president of SGA — said he recognizes the importance of his position, being able to speak on behalf of students who can’t meet one-on-one with higher ups.

 “That’s where hearing from the students is most important because we can’t bring things to the table that we don’t hear about,” Swartz said. 

SGA Finance Board

Student organizations are able to request funding from SGA to support their events. Funding requests are reviewed by the SGA finance board. Funds are given on a quarterly basis.

SGA’s funds come from a percentage of the Student Activity Fees charged in undergraduate tuition. After the change to a quarter system last year, some on-campus organizations saw their funding decrease because of changes in funding periods and what SGA would fund.

The finance board considers funding based on factors listed in their bylaws, including student appeal, location on or off-campus, expected attendance and inclusivity. 

The 2026-27 bylaws included updated rules. Some changes from last year to this year are that organizations requesting more than $5,000 must submit requests 90 days before the deadline, individuals requesting funding will need to meet with the vice president of finance at least two months before submitting a request, and conference attendance will not be funded.

Another change to the bylaws is that all members of the finance board will undergo training on the funding bylaws. Senior Cayce Becker, vice president of finance, will lead this training and said it will help ensure new members understand the request process before reviewing applications.

“It’s helpful because our goal is that finance board members are liaisons with different student organizations, it just makes it easier for them to find meeting times,” Becker said. “While they’re always welcome to meet with the vice president of finance, they have an additional person so that there’s more times to meet.”

Looking back, looking ahead

One of the most prominent pieces of legislation passed in the 2025-26 school year was the implementation of suggestion boxes across campus. These suggestion boxes allowed students to more readily submit ideas to SGA.

After the legislation was passed, it continued to be discussed as the senate amended the bill. One amendment included adding an online submission form accessible through SGA’s page on Elon’s website. Mastrangelo said that in the 2026-27 school year the senate will be shifting student feedback to the online submission form, making it easier to track submissions and route them to the right person.

“We’re going to make sure it succeeds in the way that the people who authored the bill and the people who supported it intended for it to be,” Mastrangelo said.

Over the summer, the SGA executive board met with Elon’s director of transportation to improve on-campus transportation. Swartz said that E-Rides transportation service will have expanded hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and the shuttle to and from the first-year parking lot will now operate until 11 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.

“Coming back from London and being an RA in a freshman neighborhood, one of the biggest things I heard was how this new Gateway lot has been impacting students,” Swartz said. “That’s just what we do throughout the summer, work to make it the best it can be with the situation that we have.”

The Gateway lot is the parking lot for first-year students, located near the Francis Center. Students were frustrated with the parking lot being a roughly 1 mile walk from many first-year neighborhoods, and raised safety concerns about the walk at night after shuttle services ended.

Swartz said that for the 2026-27 school year, he is working to make SGA more accessible and present on campus. Swartz campaigned on these principles in the spring, and he wants students to see SGA as more than just a funding entity but as a body they’ll approach with concerns and ideas for improving campus. 

Upcoming Events

Applications for the Fall 2026 election are open on PhoenixCONNECT, held for first year class officers, and for the new School of Engineering and Computing senator.  The SGA Interest Meeting for those interested in running for these positions is at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 27 in Moseley 215. The election will be held Sept. 9.