by Cento Staff
The SGA Debate, which is a convocation held before SGA elections, is coming up this Thursday (7:00pm in Newlin Hall). This annual debate, co-hosted by the Cento, allows students to hear the policies of the candidates running for SGA offices for the upcoming academic year. The offices eligible for election include SGA President, President of the Student Senate, Speaker of the House, and the President of SAC. In other words, these students will be in charge of overseeing student affairs, club funding, activity planning, and will advocate for campus policies and change on campus according to the student body’s voice. Since these students will be representing all students, it is important to know what they stand for before you elect them.
This year, the ballot is:
SGA President (uncontested) – Logan Ward
Speaker of the House – Emily Immordino (’29)
Speaker of the House – George Ferree (’27)
The Cento has conducted an email interview with all candidates to inform the student body about their policies. Since the presidency is uncontested, the main election is between candidates for the Speaker of the House, a role which leads the student House of Representatives and acts as a liaison between student voices and SGA.
Could you give an overview of who you are at Centre College?
Logan Ward (President): Outside of SGA, I’m a First Year Mentor, Writing Center consultant, Student Judiciary member, and am involved in Greek Life. I’m a junior pre-law student majoring in Religion and Philosophy, so the LSAT is looming. Currently, I am studying abroad at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It’s an incredible experience, but one downside is that I cannot be on campus to campaign in-person. While Scotland is wonderful, I do look forward to being back on-campus in the fall and seeing some familiar faces again.
Emily Immordino (Speaker): Hi! I’m Emily Immordino! At Centre, I’m a member of the women’s tennis team, officer of academic excellence for Tri Delta, SGA class representative, and New Horizons scholar. I’m also a chemistry major and am pursuing a career in the medical field. In my free time I love getting açaí bowls at Shake It, long walks around campus, and porch sitting at the house!
George Ferree (Speaker): I am a current junior studying Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In May, I’ll be applying to medical school! I have been on SGA for two semesters now on our finance committee. Some of the other things that I am involved in on campus are competing on the Track and Field team, Greek life, and performing music on the piano. In my three years at Centre, I have made so many new connections and had the experience of a lifetime. I am now excited and eager to serve and give back to our community so that the current student body and even next generation of Centre students may also fully share in what this college has to offer.
What do you plan to accomplish in your role? Will you have new projects, and/or will you continue existing projects for SGA?
Logan Ward (President): The three primary tenets of my platform are safety, accessibility, and community. Safety has been one of the biggest concerns of the student body this year. I believe that it’s a multifaceted issue, and as such, requires that SGA takes a multi-faceted approach. For example, I want to increase the number of safety walks. Safety is not just a matter of being reactive, but also being proactive, and safety walks are a major part of this. They allow students to identify to departments such as DPS, SLO, Title IX, and facilities areas on-campus where infrastructure can be improved in order to improve upon safety and accessibility for all students. SGA has a critical role in advocating for these infrastructure improvements. Furthermore, community is a key tenet of my platform. I want to mobilize committees such as Campus Culture and Student Affairs to help drive student involvement in extracurriculars, service, sporting events, among other things, and to ensure that there’s something for everybody on Centre’s campus.
Emily Immordino (Speaker): As Speaker of the House, my primary goal is to make SGA more open and accessible to the general student body, while highlighting opinions from a more diverse range of students. I believe I bring a unique perspective to SGA Exec as a student-athlete, Greek affiliate, STEM major, and person of color. I plan to build on the work of previous leadership and continue initiatives that amplify student voices, ensuring they translate into meaningful and tangible changes on campus.
George Ferree (Speaker): The position I am running for is Speaker of the House who is responsible for maintaining the procedure and order of our meetings. I have two main points of emphasis for my approach to the Speaker of the House position on SGA.
The first is transparency and accommodation. Many people might not be aware, but all of our general session meetings where voting and discussions take place for SGA are entirely open to the public. You’ll find us every other week in Young 113 on Wednesday night at 7pm (usually). At these meetings, I want to foster an environment where all students, SGA representatives or not, can voice their opinion and be aware of the decisions that our student leaders are making. That is something that everyone at our school has a right to do.
The second point of emphasis is efficiency. I believe that one of the ways for Student Government to be effective and productive is for us to remain efficient at general session meetings. I will maintain our general parliamentary procedure through the meeting agendas in an orderly manner so that we can focus on what matters most: discussing and voting on issues that are relevant to our school.
These are things that our current Speaker does well, so I would say that these two goals are not really changes and more of continuing the good work done this year.
What experience do you have that qualifies you for your position?
Logan Ward (President): With the exception of my current abroad semester, I’ve been on SGA since my freshman fall. During that time, I’ve worn many hats. As a representative my freshman year, I helped plan and organize our first year SGA project, SGA Cafe. My sophomore fall, I served as Secretary of Administration during which I compiled a midterm report released to the student body detailing the activities of all of SGA’s committees. My sophomore spring and junior fall, I served as Chair of Student Affairs and helped a wide variety of student organizations through the SGA approval process. Additionally, I have been a student worker all three years that I have been on- campus, so advocating for student workers, as a student worker myself, will be a major priority of mine as President.
Emily Immordino (Speaker): In addition to my involvement at Centre, I’ve been passionate about leadership and service for years. In high school, I founded and served as president of my school’s Key Club chapter and worked as a peer tutor for STEM-related classes. Outside of school, I served as Southeast Regional President for Second Serve, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to sports equipment in underserved communities. These experiences helped me develop strong leadership, communication, and advocacy skills that I now bring to SGA.
George Ferree (Speaker): I’ve been fortunate enough to be on a great team on SGA that oversees funding for clubs and events, and through this work I have gained valuable experience with campus engagement. With the example of people from our current Exec team, I’ve also learned what it takes to be a leader in our student government at Centre, and about the needs of our students who we serve. As Speaker of the House, I would follow the example of the leaders that have come before me, who I owe everything I know about servant leadership on Student Government to.
Why should students care about SGA?
Logan Ward (President): SGA is the primary through-line between the student body and faculty and admin. As such, I believe it is the foremost responsibility and priority of SGA to advocate for the needs of Centre’s student bodies in a way it is uniquely positioned to do so as a body by and for the students. If there’s something you are passionate about, contact a representative. Furthermore, usually there’s always room for more on SGA. If you’ve got ideas that you want to work to implement, run for a seat.
Emily Immordino (Speaker): Students should care about SGA because it directly impacts their daily experience on campus. SGA serves as a bridge between students and administration, meaning it’s one of the most effective ways for student concerns, ideas, and feedback to be heard and acted upon. Whether it’s campus policies, student resources, or new initiatives, SGA plays a role in shaping the Centre experience, so getting involved or staying informed truly makes a difference.
George Ferree (Speaker): Students should probably care about SGA because it is the most standard avenue for students to raise their concerns, approval, and everything in between to the school administration. Our Board of Trustees takes the Student Government seriously, so it is important that we as a student body are intentional about representing our interests accurately and effectively. The best way to do that is to have a diverse group of students on SGA that ideally represents each unique side of our campus. On that note, I would encourage students to get involved with student government, because it’s not something to be intimidated by. Becoming a representative is relatively straightforward!
And finally, which study spot do you like the most on campus?
Logan Ward (President): Crounse! Whether I’m working alone or with friends, I love being in a space where I’m surrounded by my peers. It may not always be the quietest (or most productive) place to study, but in all honesty, when I’m in a need of a pick-me up (Hello Einstein Bros) or even just some simple human interaction after holing up somewhere else to do some serious studying, Crounse is generally where I go.
Emily Immordino (Speaker): I’m always studying in Olin, so my favorite spot is either the projector room in the basement or one of the upstairs classrooms.
George Ferree (Speaker): Definitely at my desk in my Northside room. But if I need to lock in on something, I’m headed to Young Hall to try and find an open classroom in the evening. That’s only in extreme cases though.
. . . . .
That concludes our interview with the candidates. Remember to attend the SGA Debate this Thursday, 4/9, at 7:00-8:30pm in Newlin Hall! It counts for a convocation credit. Here, you will have the time to listen to candidates respond to questions, and also be able to ask questions of each candidate in a Q&A session. Hope you see you there!