Elon University\u2019s Student Government Association<\/a>, and\u202fJessica Paredes\u202f\u201927, president of Queens University\u2019s Student Government Association, answered questions this week in the lead-up to their first meeting.<\/p>\nThe duo described their expectations ahead of the conversation and the role of student leadership in shaping what comes next for students on both campuses as the merger progresses.<\/p>\n
Describe the role you envision for your Student Government Association as both universities begin to merge operations over the next several months.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael Swartz:\u202fI see SGA as being\u202fan important\u202fbridge between the decisions happening at the highest levels of the university and Elon students. Students sometimes feel a little\u00a0uninformed,\u00a0and at both institutions,\u00a0SGA can be a part of that solution, as well as sharing with administrators and faculty what students think.<\/p>\n
Jessica Paredes:\u202fThe role I envision for Queens University\u2019s Student Government Association is to reflect our motto of \u201cNot to be served, but to serve.\u201d\u202fI want to help lay the foundation of service so that when we progress in our relationship with Elon, it goes beyond our campuses into our cities.<\/p>\n
Can you share some of the ideas\u202fyou\u2019ve\u202fheard from classmates when\u202fthey\u2019ve\u202ftalked about the merger that\u202fexcite\u202fyou as a student leader?\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jessica:\u202fOne of the things that I\u2019ve heard from my peers that really excited me is the possibility of being able to take classes on either campus.\u202fI think this\u202fis an awesome idea that can allow for even more networking,\u202fcareer\u202fand friendship opportunities for both Queens and Elon\u202fstudents. Another idea that is exciting is being able to cheer for Elon\u2019s football team! Through organized field trips to Elon\u2019s campus, Queens students can support a team they have close ties to!<\/p>\n
Michael:\u202fThere\u2019s\u202fa lot of curiosity I hear from friends and peers.\u202fThey\u2019re\u202fthinking about locations and spaces and potentially taking classes at a different location or pursuing their degree in a place that might make more sense, whether that be in Charlotte for Elon students, or for Queens students in Charlotte to come to Elon.\u202fHaving options, I think, is a\u202fnew,\u202fvaluable asset.<\/p>\n
What opportunities for collaboration between the SGAs do you already see that you want to explore first?\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michael:\u202fIt makes sense to not plan any huge steps this first year.\u202fWe\u2019ll\u202fwant to start a little smaller and think about how we can interact via Zoom, like\u202fwe\u2019re\u202fdoing Friday, and really meet the people that are spearheading the change on our campuses. Going from there, hosting retreats together and getting connected in person as soon as possible is a great idea.<\/p>\n
Jessica:\u202fBetween Queens University\u2019s SGA and Elon\u2019s SGA, I foresee collaborative opportunities such as creating new traditions, whether that is taking regularly scheduled trips to each other\u2019s institutions, hosting joint listening sessions for all students\u202fand inviting each other to participate in select board of trustee meetings so that they are hearing from both student populations.<\/p>\n
What are the most important qualities or traits of your campus culture that may be important for the other SGA to understand when you work together?<\/p>\n
Michael:\u202fA lot of things at Elon are\u00a0relationship-driven.\u202fI\u2019m\u202fthinking about our small class sizes.\u202fThat\u2019s\u202fprobably not\u202funique to Elon, but\u202fit\u2019s\u202fsomething that is so defining about the student experience here, having those connections. Understanding how\u202finvolved students are\u202fin a lot of different things is also important. Many students\u202fdon\u2019t\u202fhave one passion or place where they spend all their time.\u202fThey\u2019re\u202finvolved in many activities and in diverse parts of campus.<\/p>\n
Jessica:\u202fQueens is unique in the connections it has with its community and throughout the\u202fcity\u202fof Charlotte.\u202fI think it\u2019s very crucial to understand that Queens is career readiness\u00a0driven.\u202fOur SGAs can discuss what our jobs are when it comes to connecting Elon students to Charlotte, and Charlotte to Elon.<\/p>\n
Define \u2018success\u2019 in the context of collaboration. Where do you want your SGAs to be a year from now?\u202f<\/p>\n
Michael:\u202fFor me, success means things feeling more normal than they do now, and this merger\u202fnot being\u202fsomething\u202fthat\u2019s\u202fhappening to students, but something that\u202fthey\u2019re\u202fa part of. I think that collaboration a year from now will also feel more natural.<\/p>\n
Jessica:\u202fSuccess to me looks like being on the same\u202fpage,\u202fand everyone feels their ideas have been heard or even acted on! I want Queens University\u2019s SGA to be in a space where our student body feels\u202fconfidence\u202fand pride in being a part of our mission. I hope the same thing goes for Elon.<\/p>\n
A fun question to end the interview: What might surprise your SGA counterpart to learn about you?\u202f<\/p>\n
Jessica:\u202fI am\u202fa very open\u202fbook and have built connections with most of the people in our SGA. However, I think a surprising thing about me is that I am always learning from them. The President title bears a lot of weight, but if\u00a0it\u202fweren\u2019t\u202ffor the Senate showing up and giving new perspectives, my job would be\u202fway less\u202ffun.<\/p>\n
Michael:\u202fI\u2019ve\u202fbeen on the Queens campus more times than I can count because my mom went there as a\u202fstudent\u202fand she currently works there in their advancement department. I spent my childhood traveling from Davidson, North Carolina, to Charlotte, hanging out around Queens and seeing it grow in its own way before I had any idea at all I was going to end up at Elon. I used to say that I\u202fdidn\u2019t\u202fwant to go to\u202fa school\u202fwhere my mom works.\u202fIt\u2019s\u202ffunny that, one way or another, that happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The student government associations at both institutions will meet\u202fvirtually for\u202fthe first time on April 24, 2026, with conversations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-208892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}