Two members of Loyola’s Student Government Association (SGA) were recently elected to the board of the National Jesuit Student Government Association (NJSGA).
Ryan Blake, vice president of student advocacy, and Chris Singlemann, director of public relations, both class of ’16, will serve on the inaugural executive board of the organization. For the NJSGA, Blake will take on the role of Secretary for Academic Affairs and Singlemann is the Secretary for Athletic Affairs.
Singlemann describes the role of the NJSGA as “a great advocacy role” while representing both Loyola and the other member universities.
Zach Peters, SGA’s chief of staff, echoes the importance of the NJSGA’s advocacy role. Peters says, “We look forward to strengthening our relationship with fellow Jesuit institutions and continuing our advocacy work for students both on our campus and on others.”
“To know that people find me qualified to take on this role is a challenge that I’m really eager to take on,” Singlemann says.
The NJSGA’s constitution states that it is “dedicated to the enhancement of the educational, social and cultural environment on Jesuit college and university campuses throughout the country.”
The idea for the NJSGA was first conceived at the 2013 meeting of the National Jesuit Student Leadership Conference, and the board was elected at the 2014 meeting at Boston College. The board represents the students from all 28 Jesuit universities in the country, with students from Creighton University, St. Joseph’s University and Georgetown University joining Blake and Singlemann in executive positions.
The executive board was elected by a panel comprised of each member school’s SGA president.
After the election of the board, Student Union President of Creighton University and Chairman of the NJSGA Steering Committee John McCoy said, “After more than 18 months of planning, it is extremely encouraging to see the organization getting off its feet and blossoming into a body that will serve the common interests and needs of students of Jesuit colleges and universities across the United States.”
Peters says, “Being active in organizations such as NJSGA allows us to better communicate and collaborate with other Jesuit institutions that face similar issues that we do.”
Singlemann is hoping to bring back better practices in the student athlete advisory committee, emphasizing the idea of an increased amount of service opportunities for student atheletes.
Because this is the NJSGA’s first year Singlemann said he is most looking forward to being able to establish their own mission as the initial executive board taking on these positions. “The best thing about it,” he says, “is that it’s a brand new exec board…so there’s a lot of freedom there.”
