Pelham elected Austin Peay S.G.A. president
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A graduate of the Warren County High School Class of 2002, the rising junior won the coveted post by defeating sitting S.G.A. vice president Sean McKinney by a mere 24 votes, capturing the exact number of votes needed for a majority.
The S.G.A. is the university’s student representative body. Its mission is to enhance and improve the quality of student life at Austin Peay by giving students the opportunity to participate in university governance by promoting the exchange of ideas between the students and the administration.
Pelham, who served as an S.G.A. senator during his sophomore year, said he became interested in running for the post after talking with former S.G.A. president and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother Gavin Roark.
“He kind of talked me into it,” he said. “I was able to win thanks to the support of my fraternity brothers and others on campus.”
One of his main goals for the upcoming year is to increase communication at the Clarksville university.
“Austin Peay is a diverse campus. We have a lot of non-traditional students and a lot of soldiers and soldier’s families from nearby Ft. Campbell. We’re called a ‘suitcase campus’ because not many people actually live on campus. For that reason it’s hard to communicate activities and other events with the student body,” he said.
The S.G.A. is a busy organization. In addition to meeting every week to review university policies and pass legislation, the group also orchestrates “Welcome Week” activities at the beginning of the fall semester, oversees Homecoming and coordinates a campus/community community service project in the fall. He added he would like to see the S.G.A. start a spring community service project in the spring as well.
“S.G.A. has more power than most people think, but in the past we have not been very effective in utilizing that power. I want to change that,” he said.
A public management major with an emphasis in criminal justice, Pelham is the son of John and Rhonda Pelham.
Before returning to Austin Peay in the fall, he will complete a summer internship with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in Nashville this summer.