Meet The New SGA Leadership

In March of this year, the students of Frostburg spoke and elected to have Noah DeMichele and Jessica Thayer represent them as the new SGA president and vice president. Very excited about taking these positions, DeMichele and Thayer ensured they are going to try their absolute best to keep Frostburg State University (FSU) moving in the right direction. In their new roles, they’re willing to work full-time on producing ideas to keep FSU advancing.

DeMichele is a junior and former treasurer of SGA. He has strived to be president of the organization since joining SGA in 2017, his first-year. He credits his brother, an FSU alum and former SGA president, James Kirk, a 2018 FSU grad and former SGA president, and Jenna Puffinburger, the most recent SGA president.

An ideology DeMichele has stood by is “there are always things that can be made better, and that’s been [his mentality] since joining the senate.” DeMichele has now learned that being president by no means is going to be easy, saying “I’ve learned the time, effort, and dedication that one must put in as the SGA president and I’m ready to take on that responsibility and be a leader for Frostburg’s students.”

Unlike her partner who knew he wanted a high-level position immediately after joining the Senate, new vice president Jessica Thayer was at one point satisfied with her role as a senator.

Thayer mentioned, “when [she] first joined SGA, [she] was content with being a regular senator.” Thayer ended up ascending to the position of governance chair where she learned the true effort that needs to be put into making FSU a great school saying, “being a senator required commitment, but being [governance] chair required much more attention, time, and dedication to the organization.”

When she eventually was given the opportunity to be running mates with Michele, she accepted and was elected vice president. The past leadership of former president Puffinburger and vice president Benjamin Forrest was an inspiration to Thayer also. Since joining SGA,  a philosophy Thayer had kept was to always be selfless, and this thinking was reinforced by the modeling of Puffinburger and Forrest.

“What I liked most about [Puffinburger and Forrest’s] leadership was their selflessness,” said Thayer. As she serves as vice president, what Thayer hopes to be is “a positive motivator and a listening ear for my senate and the students.”

As president and vice president, DeMichele and Thayer are the students’ keys to FSU administration.

“I will be the link between the student body and President Nowaczyk as well as the other university administrators where I can raise student concerns and opinion,” said DeMichele of his role as president: First obtaining the information of concerns on campus, then bringing them to the attention of people with control over the university is mostly what the jobs consist of, as well as presiding over SGA meetings and leading discussions.

When asked about plans for FSU they intend to achieve, it was said by both DeMichele and Thayer that they wanted to continue in the path of past presidents. SGA’s mission as a whole is to serve the students. In order to serve students, SGA has to make itself well known to the students of FSU. DeMichele mentioned he recognizes that students lack knowledge of SGA. Understanding this, DeMichele and Thayer’s plan is to enlighten students on the benefit of having a student government.

Another improvement to FSU they want to continue highlighting is “Campus Unity.”

“One of my main objectives is to create a stronger campus community,” said Thayer. She added, “not only does this involve internal cohesiveness within SGA, but also external cohesiveness with the student body and the city of Frostburg.” While their goals lie in keeping the students happy and motivated in whatever they do, emphasis will always be on keeping a mindset of unity within the community.

Students should be very excited to have student leaders that have studied the roles of their current position under past leaders, understand how much commitment it takes to fulfill them, and already have plans on how to positively impact FSU. If SGA can continue in developing natural leaders such as this, the future of FSU will be in great hands.

Statements from the presidents:

Although we aren’t seeing each other face to face, it’s important to stay a part of Frostburg State. This is a difficult time for everyone, and it is no less difficult for students. The SGA is continuing to work during our time online, and we will be ready when we are all back on campus. In the meantime, keep in contact with your student organizations and stay on top of your coursework. Just because we aren’t on campus doesn’t mean we aren’t still a part of Frostburg. We’re still Bobcats, and we all need to be prepared to reengage on campus when the time comes. – Noah DeMichele

Never stop caring about your campus, your time here, or each other. None of us are going to succeed if we are working against each other. We are all Bobcats, and we all have a role to play in each other’s success and defeat. I challenge you to make the effort, get involved, and be the change. I challenge you to care about your impact on Frostburg State University, and the legacy that you will leave behind. And most importantly, I challenge you to care about each other. Our differences are quite small when we take the time to learn about one another, and the change that we can achieve together is much greater than that which we can achieve alone. – Jessica Thayer