With the final stretch of the school year comes many things: class registration, room selection, appointing new club EBoards, and the election of the new Student Government Association (SGA) President and Vice President. After a process of campaigning, town hall debates, and elections, meet your new SGA President, Jenna Vinoya, and her VP, Maddie Bowen. 

Vinoya (‘24) and Bowen (‘25) have both been involved in SGA since their first year here at St. John Fisher. Each of them believes that their new roles as leaders of SGA will allow them to invoke changes for the greater student body.

Vinoya explained, “one thing I really love about Fisher is that everyone listens to the students, we’re really the voice that can spark change.” 

Both Vinoya and Bowen intend to use their positions to help other students who are not on the SGA senate voice their concerns and be there to guide them in making the changes they want to see on campus.

“I definitely wanted to expand to support the student body overall, and just serve as a voice for them,” said Bowen. She emphasized her hope “to empower people to make the changes they want to see but also to assist them in doing that.”

Vinoya ran for SGA president on the platform of making different student services more widely accessible and more well-known on campus.

“The SGA has a senate of about 32 senators all from different constituencies,” Vinoya said. “I’ve been with SGA since my first year, and a lot of the things we hear is that people don’t really know their senators or how to communicate to their senators. So I think keeping up that communication but coming up with different ways to reach different audiences and different methods of communication is really important.”

Vinoya also highlighted the free bus passes provided by Fisher that allow for easy access to the city at no cost to students. Her hope for the upcoming year is to make these kinds of services more widely known. Additionally, she intends to create more opportunities for students in terms of wellness resources. A few of her ideas include offering haircuts on campus or reinstating the fitness classes in the athletic center.

When running her campaign as Vice President, Bowen focused on conversations surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) on campus. While this has been a controversial topic in the senate this past year, Bowen intends for it to be at the forefront of her agenda next year.

By conducting conversations about students spaces and furthering DEI efforts, Bowen hopes to create a campus that feels like home for students from all backgrounds

“One of the biggest things that I really want to do is work on conversation about student spaces. So whether that be like a multi-cultural center or a commuter lounge, things like that, that would just provide spaces for students to really feel welcome and at home on campus,” Bowen said.

When they’re not in class or doing their respective SGA duties, Vinoya and Bowen are both busy with other commitments and hobbies. Both are service and honors scholars who complete their weekly service hours in Rochester. You can also catch Bowen running for Fisher’s track and cross country teams, while Vinoya may be cheering from the sidelines and supporting her favorite Fisher sports teams.