The final general assembly meeting of the 57th session of the Student Government Association saw the appointment of the eight positions for the 58th session’s leadership team Tuesday.
Courtney Castellow was made assembly speaker; Hampton Smith was made deputy assembly director; Jackson Adams was made assembly clerk; Kaylee Greene was made chief of staff; Brittany Byrum was made communications director; Nicole Tran was made director of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, and Jaden Hatcher was made director of the Academic Affairs committee.
Students elected into these positions will serve alongside newly-elected President Kathryn Long and Vice President Amarah Din.
According to an SGA Bill titled “The First Constitutional Amendments Package Act,” the chief of staff, communications director, committee directors and the UNC Association of Student Governments liaison positions are appointed by the president and confirmed by the assembly. The assembly speaker, deputy assembly director and assembly clerk positions are elected separately through a vote by the assembly.
SGA assembly members chose to vote by voice, and all positions were confirmed or elected unanimously.
Kathryn Long wrote in an email that there are still leadership positions that have not been filled, which will be determined near the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester.
Castellow, a senior building sciences major, said this is her first year at App State, but she currently serves as a fourth-year representative because of credits gained during high school. Castellow said she was involved in student government associations in high school and community college.
“I’ve seen how a lot of people do things similar and how a lot of people do things differently,” Castellow said. “And then also, one thing that all of these things have taught me is to keep a level head.”
Part of Castellow’s job as assembly speaker is to oversee all officer positions within the SGA. She said she is excited to continue to bring the assembly and leadership positions together and promote transparency within the group.
During her time as a representative, Castellow was part of the Campus Resources Committee. This committee has been working throughout the semester to organize the introduction of sensory rooms in the Belk Library.
“We kind of did a walk-through with testing out different areas to do kind of what we wanted,” Castellow said. “You know, we really wanted to be inclusive and give an area for people to, like, decompress.”
Tran, a junior political science major, is currently an at-large representative and the deputy chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Through her participation in this committee, Tran helped organize the Day of Happiness event, where SGA members handed out donuts on Sanford Mall and left positive notes in the Plemmons Student Union.
In the coming year, Tran will serve as the director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
“A few of my priorities will be; building a safe and inclusive environment in SGA through bias training and DEI workshops, and building a bridge between the Student body and assembly with town halls and collaboration on DEI initiatives,” Tran wrote in an email.
