SRU students elect Ella Bloom as SRSGA president for 2023-24
Ella Bloom, a Slippery Rock University sophomore political science major from East Berlin, was elected president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association for the 2023-24 academic year.
April 18, 2023
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — There will be a new voice representing Slippery Rock University students for the 2023-24 academic year. Ella Bloom, a sophomore political science major from East Berlin, was elected president of the Slippery Rock Student Government Association earlier this month.
More than 630 students voted through CORE, SRU's online platform for student organizations and activities. The election determined the president, as well as an executive board and 25 senators of the available 43 seats that make up the governing body that represents SRU students.
"Being able to have this position and represent more than 8,000 students is awesome," Bloom said. "It's exciting for me to be a strong advocate that many of the SRU students need. I'm someone who can talk to administration and be influential to create a better campus community."
Bloom interacts with a lot of students. She is active in student organizations, as president of the Debate Society and treasurer of the Law Society, and she's well connected through her campus job as a community assistant in her residence hall, Building E.
"I saw firsthand how difficult all the SGA policies are to navigate, not only for club executive board members, but for regular students who pay 5.25% of their tuition into this organization and who might not understand what's happening with SGA," Bloom said. "To me, that's a huge deal. So I began to think, 'What's the best way to make a change with an organization that has years of tradition?,' and (I decided to run for president and) start from the top and see what I can do."
SRSGA is an independent corporation that advocates for students, provides services and governs more than 150 student clubs and organizations. SRSGA oversees a budget of approximately $2.5 million that is funded by a student activity fee.
Bloom said her priorities as president will be to make SRSGA accessible to all students by improving funding policies so that they are easier to understand and provide training for executive board members of student organizations. She also wants to advocate for students from non-majority ethnicities at SRU, who make up 12% of the student population.
"We need to promote diversity across the campus so that students with diverse backgrounds and students of color want to come here and know this is a place for them and that they have a voice," Bloom said. "They need to be able to express themselves and live their life in a way that is going to promote who they are and also give them an equal opportunity to succeed.
In addition to Bloom, the executive board includes five vice presidents, each representing the areas of finance, internal affairs, campus outreach, student and academic affairs, and diversity and inclusion. There is also a parliamentarian, who will be appointed by the president, and a speaker of the senate, who is chosen from among the 43 elected senators. There are several vacant seats on the senate that can be filled by applicants in the fall.
The elected 2023-24 SRSGA executive board as determined by SRU students is:
- Ella Bloom, president.
- Ava Sherwood Erculiani, a junior dual biology and political science major from Balsano, as vice president of academic and student affairs.
- Sydney Rezzetano, a junior finance major from McConnellsburg, as vice president of finance.
- Nikole Husnick, a sophomore health and physical education major from Masury, Ohio, as vice president of internal affairs.
- Robbi Austin, a junior early childhood/special education major from Edwardsville, as vice president of campus outreach.
- Liz Hood, a graduate student majoring in occupational therapy from Gibsonia, as vice president of diversity and inclusion.
More information about SRSGA is available at srsga.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu