Editors Note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Medgine Present’s name. 

On Friday, Florida Atlantic University’s Student Government Association (SGA) held its first House of Representative meeting for the fall 2024 semester to discuss plans for the semester and elect a new Speaker of the House.

Leaders from across SGA, such as the student body president Stefan Andjelkovic and the Boca Raton campus governor Raymond Adderly, also reported their accomplishments from previous projects and announced new goals for the student body.

House elects new speaker

Rep. Medgine Present was chosen as the new Speaker of the House, with six votes in her favor and one vote for the other candidate. 

Medgine said she looks to continue the work of the previous SGA administration in combating food insecurity amongst FAU students, by collaborating with Feeding South Florida, a community service organization, to host events this semester. 

Another priority for Present is stocking more feminine products in female bathrooms. She said she reached out to Aunt Flow, a period product dispenser company, to assist with this task. 

“Some of the ladies may recognize that in the bathrooms, there’s not really menstrual products,” Present said. “… So during the summer, we contacted them and we’ve been able to receive a quote.” 

She added that next week’s meeting will discuss and consider accepting this bill for adding feminine product dispensers in the female bathrooms. 

Boca campus governor’s report

Adderly pledged full support to help the house and the campus with food insecurity. He said it is important for students to have access to quality meals.

“Whatever budgetary or financial need the house will have to put on that event… You can count on it that my office is ready and willing to help, and that is a commitment that we have made,” Adderly said. 

Adderly mentioned he wants to offer enriching and educational opportunities to students. As he mentioned, his office is working to provide free tickets to watch live FAU theater performances and host a presidential debate watch party this semester. 

Student body president’s report

Andjelkovic, the SGA president for FAU, reported on the success of Owl Involved, which encouraged students to get involved with on-campus clubs and organizations. 

“So our main concern this year is to just increase that attendance, increase the involvement and get more students interested in student government,” Andjelkovic said.

Andjelkovic mentioned that one of the biggest initiatives this summer was refurbishing the FAU eSports Arena and Gaming Center with 30 new computers for $60,000. 

“Right now, we have the best computers and best eSports arena in South Florida in terms of PC performance,” Andjelkovic said. 

Andjelkovic said many students requested this and saw students enjoying the new installments when he visited the arena recently. 

SGA meetings are open to the public and are held every Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the House Chambers, outside of the Student Union building. 

Kirk Orr is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach him at korr2023@fau.edu.