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SA chairs aim to improve SU voter turnout

Jessie Zhai | Contributing Photographer

Juniors Erin Mooney (left) and Jalen Nash said their first project as co-chairs will be getting buses to and from polls on Election Day.

By Natalie Rubio-Licht

The Syracuse University Student Association’s two new Student Life committee co-chairs will work to improve student voter turnout and sexual health services.

The assembly voted to confirm juniors Erin Mooney and Jalen Nash, a music columnist for The Daily Orange, as Student Life committee co-chairs at its meeting on Oct. 22. The elections took place after Noah Cyr, the previous Student Life committee chair, stepped down earlier at the beginning of the fall 2018 semester. Cyr did not respond to request for a comment.

The Student Life chair evaluates the needs of students on campus, said SA President Ghufran Salih. She said it’s important that the chair is connected to campus and takes into account what students want.

Mooney said her job includes anything that has an impact on students’ day-to-day issues.

“When students see small things that they think could be improved, that would fall under our job,” Mooney said.



Salih said that Nash and Mooney live on opposite sides of campus and socialize with different types of people. The combination of their perspectives makes them a good pair because they can cover a wider range of student issues, she said.

Their first project will be to provide buses between SU’s campus and poll locations on Election Day to improve student voter turnout, Mooney said.  

Mooney said she then wants the committee to focus on sexual health services on campus.

“I’m very interested in looking at ways to improve sexual health on campus, like better access to contraceptive methods, days for free STI testing in the health center, and hopefully either free or affordable access to Plan B,” she said.

Nash said he wants to spend time evaluating the experiences of minority students on campus.

Despite their different focuses, Nash and Mooney will be working on all of their projects collaboratively, he said. Nash added that he believes that open communication with different student groups will help them do their job as efficiently as possible.

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