Mackenzie Mertikas and Sameeha Saied, president and vice president of Student Association, admitted they were nervous when they took control of the organization this fall.

The duo inherited an organization that had faced internal tensions and was struggling to find representatives. A contentious election in spring 2019 saw multiple campaigns placed under investigation or suspended, while several students accused SA of election rigging and bias.

Several representatives left the Assembly due to an internal environment Mertikas later described as “not healthy.”

“A lot of people left at the end of last year and didn’t come back at the beginning of this year,” Mertikas said. “It was really hard starting fresh and not having members who know all of the processes and know how things work.”

Five months later, Mertikas and Saied have nearly doubled the Assembly, filling 21 seats after reopening membership applications in October. The pair have started organizing an orientation process to educate new representatives on SA’s bylaws, and hope to start assigning representatives to committees this spring.

As the spring semester begins, Mertikas and Saied want to translate their new membership into action. They’re looking forward to working on several initiatives, such as helping to coordinate the Sexual Health Resource Fair and providing free GRE test prep to students.

“Obviously there’s still room to improve –– there’s always room to improve –– but I think we’ve definitely done a good job getting things back on track,” Saied said.

Pushing forward

On the same night the organization confirmed 21 new Assembly members, SA debated the university’s response to racist graffiti found on two floors of Day Hall. The incidents were the first of several to occur at or near SU after Nov. 7, sparking protests from the black student-led movement #NotAgainSU. 

Over the next few weeks, Mertikas and Saied wrestled with what role they and the organization should take in the #NotAgainSU protests.

“It’s so hard being a student representative and wanting to make this campus better, then hearing about all the horrible things that happened here,” Mertikas said. “I think that was the hardest part: feeling useless.”

The two decided it wasn’t SA’s place to spearhead the movement, Mertikas said. She and Saied wanted to use their resources to support protesters and amplify student voices, but wanted to avoid taking a leadership role themselves.

“In that moment, they really wanted us to just be students,” Saied said. “So we heard that and worked really hard to make sure we were just being students in that time, that we weren’t overstepping.”

Mackenzie Mertikas and Sameeha Saied at a Student Association meeting in November. Hannah Ly | Staff Photographer

Mertikas and Saied lent their support throughout the #NotAgainSU protests. They attended several forums between students and administration and even canceled an SA meeting to join the movement’s eight-day sit-in at the Barnes Center at the Arch.

Chancellor Kent Syverud later agreed to 16 of #NotAgainSU’s 19 demands as written, making revisions to the remaining three. Syverud also received demands and suggestions from indigenous, Jewish, Asian and international students.

Mertikas said she and Saied want SA to help implement students’ demands, and they aim to continue elevating student voices.

“We always wanted to be pushing forward student voices,” Mertikas said. “It was so inspiring and encouraging to see students come together and to see the power of a movement like that.”

Mertikas and Saied both plan to apply for the campus engagement committees launched in December to implement student demands. SA Assembly members will be encouraged to do the same, Mertikas said.

Looking to the future

Along with implementing student demands, SA plans to pursue several initiatives in the spring, Mertikas and Saied said. The organization aims to renew the menstrual health product initiative, purchase magazine racks for student publications and plan heritage months with the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Saied said SA will continue to work toward reforming first-year seminar SEM 100. Revising the mandatory diversity and inclusion course was one of #NotAgainSU’s demands.

“We have been working on SEM 100 since the summer, and that’s going to continue because that’s an issue people really wanted to change,” Saied said. “So we’re going to be even more involved with that in the future.”

SA will also work to engage the student body ahead of its annual elections, Mertikas said. The organization is striving for a much higher voter turnout this year, she said.

The pair said they’ve both grown as leaders over the course of the semester. Saied said she learned how to adapt to different situations and leadership roles. Mertikas, meanwhile, said she often had to remember to fulfill her obligations outside of SA.

“It’s so important to remember that you’re still a student,” Mertikas said. “That’s something I learned, to make sure I’m focusing on everything that’s going on, not just what’s weighing on your shoulders.”

Published on January 14, 2020 at 11:52 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu