By Laura Rodell
The two newest members of the Student Government Association Judicial Panel were sworn in on Tuesday, immediately following senators’ overwhelming ratification of their nomination.
“The twin vacancies emerged after one panel member graduated from the University and another resigned,” said the SGA president, Peter DiSilvio. But the installation of Lia Mulligan, a senior social sciences major and former legal aid of the judicial panel, and Makeda Paul, a freshman legal studies major, restored the panel to its original five-member capacity.
The judicial panel is comprised of five full-time undergraduates, who are elected by the student body. When seats are vacated between election cycles, replacement justices are nominated by the president of the SGA and ratified by the senate, as transpired this week.
The panel’s functions, as outlined on the SGA Web site, include, but are not limited to, settling disputes between two or more SGA clubs, between an SGA club and SGA, between an SGA club and a University student and between Student Activities and a SGA club or a University student.
Under previous administrations, the justice posts were typically filled quietly and from the inside. However, DiSilvio was able to reach a larger cross section of students by advertising the open positions through Facebook.com groups.
The groups proved an effective outreach tool, baiting many of the record 35 applicants, including Paul, who learned of the opening through the Facebook group “Change Hofstra.”
“It pulled in a lot of people who wouldn’t, under normal circumstances, have thought of becoming part of SGA,” said DiSilvio.
To expedite the selection process, serious applicants were asked to complete a 12-item questionnaire that DiSilvio drafted with input from SGA cabinet members.
In addition to collecting basic information regarding major, year, clubs/organizations involved in and any on-campus jobs held, the questionnaire was designed to elicit responses that would indicate applicants’ understanding of the position
For instance, when asked, “If selected to be a justice, who do you work for?” the preferred answer was something along the lines of the University student body.
The criteria for nominating justices were manifold. DiSilvio preferred that the nominees be underclassmen because they could serve longer and impart stability to the panel, but the professionalism with which the questionnaire was crafted was also a major determinant.
“I really wanted to nominate a freshman or sophomore, but Lia’s [Mulligan] application and credentials were so great it didn’t matter,” DiSilvio said. First-year perspectives and strengths will, however, be supplied by one new justice.
“As a freshman, I’ll continue and expand upon the work of the now-upperclassmen who started this panel,” Paul said. “And I feel that, because I haven’t become affiliated with any clubs, I can operate impartially.”
Two strong applicants not nominated for justice posts – senior finance major David Susi and junior business-legal studies major Erin Veltman – instead earned seats on the Internal Revenue Committee (IRC), a body composed of students both within and outside SGA who audit clubs to ensure proper use of their funds.
“I’m really looking forward to helping Hofstra clubs manage their funds better,” said Susi.
All applicants were encouraged to consider a run for the senate.
“If anyone else is interested in [SGA] jobs, come on down,” DiSilvio said. “We can always find something for you to do and everything frees up eventually.”
