The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate is working to fill multiple vacancies following the departure of four student senators between December and February, including Gender and Sexuality Senator Jacob Boettcher ’22 and Intercampus Liaison William Jadkowski ’21.
Two of the vacancies have since been filled: Edwin Le ’21 is the new Rand Hall Senator, while Sarah Hilst ’23 is the new Hilleboe Hall & Kittelsby Hall Senator, replacing Audrey Anaya ’22. Anaya stepped down in January, while Boettcher and Jadkowski stepped down in December and early February, respectively.
SGA is still working to fill the other two Senate seats and does not plan to hold a special election to do so, wrote SGA Vice President Ariel Mota Alves ’20 in a message to the Messenger.
“It’s a slow process and resignation is always hard because finding [a] replacement is time consuming,” Mota Alves wrote.
Boettcher’s departure marks the second time this academic year that the Gender & Sexuality Senator seat has opened unexpectedly. Boettcher’s predecessor, Maggie Upjohn ’20, vacated the seat Nov. 4, prompting SGA to call the Nov. 19 special election that Boettcher won.
Despite the coincidence of resignations, there was no unifying reason or internal conflict common to the departures, according to statements from International Student Senator Zhanat Seitkuzhin ’22 and Larson Hall Senator Sasha Kazharskaya ’22.
“I resigned from my position as Gender & Sexuality Senator due to personal health issues that arose following the date of the special election that was held,” Boettcher wrote in an email to the Messenger. “These health complications would have prevented me from fully contributing to the Senate and being a fierce advocate for LGBTQIA+ aligned students on the Hill.”
Jadkowski declined to comment regarding the reason for his departure.
“The Student Government Association does incredible work on this campus and I will continue to support their efforts to make St. Olaf a more welcoming and inclusive environment for all,” Boettcher wrote.
