SGA hosted its first-ever General Assembly last Tuesday in the auditorium, the meeting is intended as a place for students to communicate with their representatives about pressing issues and upcoming events.

The General Assembly meetings are once a month. The SGA constitution specifies that all student body representatives, not class representatives, should be in attendance. The SGA is also supposed to recruit a representative from each club or school organisation to attend, though this has not yet occurred.

The General Assembly was initially led by Student Body Vice-President Ethan Fingerhut along with Student Body Treasurer Eliana Rosenthal and Secretary Anna Dueholm, until Student Body President Leo Saunders arrived later.

The majority of the 31 students at the General Assembly seemed to either be freshmen interested in running for office or students with ideas for homecoming. SGA members said that they would take the ideas of students into strong consideration for their major 7-hour homecoming planning session the next day and that in the future they will establish student-led committees for activities such as a possible Spring Spirit Week.

The General Assembly grew slightly tense when a student complained that the meeting was not adequately reflective of the student body. Fingerhut began to respond, but English teacher and SGA advisor Natalie Zuravleff interjected, saying that “the student body has to show up” if they want their voice to be heard.

President of the Student Body Leo Saunders wants to increase student attendance at the next General Assembly meeting. “Hopefully we can get Bargeman to announce it next time,” he said.

Zuravleff agreed, stating that student government meetings were moved to the auditorium in hopes of growing student participation. Last year, meetings were once a week in the SGA room, with attendance in the mid 20s and 30s.