April 7, 2026
2:15pm, Forum 3-130, Downtown Campus Room 200B, Zoom
In Attendance
Student Senators
- Senator Maddilyn Keech
- Senator Elle Reeves
- Senator John Breedy
- Senator Rusty Smetanyak
- Senator Charles
- Senator Blaska
President
- Lisa Burno
Vice President of Governance
- Margherita Rizzuti
Vice President of Downtown Campus
- Anthony Flanders
Student Trustee
- Parker Werven
Chief of Staff
- Abigail Pottinger
Office of Student Life
- Advisor: Jodi Oriel
- Faculty Advisor: Mark Sample
Visitors
- Courtney Weimar – Community Relations
- Veronica Cheisi Brown – Community Relations
- Eric Wheeler – Veterans Services
- Ginny Geer-Mentry – MCC Association
- Dana Williams – MCC Student
- Craig Ross – Administrative Services
- Darrell Jachim-Moore – Administrative Services
Minutes
Call to Order (2:15 pm)
- Roll Call (see attendance above)
Chief of Staff Pottinger called for a roll call to start the senate meeting. - Land Acknowledgement
- Approval of Minutes
- Chief of Staff Pottinger called for a motion to approve the March 24, 2026, Student Government Association Minutes
- Senator Breedy moved, seconded by Senator Reeves
- A vote was taken
- Be it resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approves the March 24, 2026, minutes as written
Reports
- President Burno
No report for this week
- Vice President of Governance Rizzuti
No report for this week
- Vice President of the Downtown Campus
I would like to first of all say, that it has been a pleasure to be accepted into SGA. My first week has been very eventful. I have been actively working to come up with a positive solution for our free breakfast program at the downtown campus. I am positive that we are on the brink of a resolving this problem. I have also been working actively with our workforce students to come up with a solution that would include them in our breakfast program. The goal is to have all of mcc students feel that they are invested in, and not left out or isolated. As stated in Mcc values as wellas our mission statement. I feel confident that we can come up with solutions that can be of benefit to all of our students equally. I am focused on up coming exams. I am very excited about my future.
-
Student Trustee Werven
Looking back on the week before break, he reflected on the hard work put in by the President, Trustees, faculty, students, and student government during the vital accreditation period. Though not without imperfections, he emphasized that the institution remains phenomenal and appeared to receive strong marks from the accrediting team’s visit. Over break, on Tuesday the 31st, he had the opportunity to tour the nearly completed ATC Center alongside President Burt-Nanna and the Trustees. He expressed excitement for the building to open to current and future MCC students. At the time his report was being read by a colleague back home, he was in New York City competing with the Model United Nations Honors class team. He noted his enthusiasm for gaining public speaking experience, bringing back stories and potential awards, and even enduring the long formal sessions. He also looked ahead to the weekend, when he would travel to Albany to meet with the SGA team for SUNYSA and support those running in the elections. He concluded with a lighthearted remark that Chief of Staff Pottinger was fortunate he would miss the math club’s poker game on Wednesday.
- Chief of Staff Pottinger
Good afternoon everyone and welcome back from break, This past week has been productive, as Pottinger remained actively engaged in meetings and initiatives that support student awareness and campus involvement. On Monday, March 23rd, Pottinger attended the Finance Committee meeting to stay informed about upcoming planning and budget related discussions for the semester. This provided valuable insight into how resources are being allocated to support student programs and campus initiatives. On Tuesday, March 24th, Pottinger had the opportunity to meet with Middle States representatives and speak about my experience here at Monroe Community College. During this conversation, Pottinger answered questions regarding campus services and shared her perspective on how the College supports its students. This was a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the accreditation process and highlight the student experience. On Thursday, Pottinger attended the Board meeting, where discussions focused on plans and priorities for the upcoming semester. Attending these meetings allows me to remain informed on broader campus developments and institutional decision making. Thank you.
-
Public Relations Senator Keech
Hi everyone welcome back from break. Over the past week I have meet with middle states and talked about my college experience. I answered questions about my college experiences. It was a cool conversation to have. It went very well.
- Public Relations Senator Smetanyak
The Clubs & Organizations meeting went well this week, with productive discussions and updates from student groups. Everything is continuing to run smoothly. The Senator will be away representing MCC at the Model UN conference in New York City and will be temporarily unavailable during this time. They look forward to returning and continuing their responsibilities afterward.
- Student Relations Senator Breedy
Good evening everyone, within the past week I have been active in discussing some concerns we’ve had with the breakfast hours at the downtown campus. Many students seem to not able to get access to the breakfast at the downtown campus, due to the class times of most of the downtown students starting at 9, when the breakfast starts at 9:15. I have been working alongside Downtown VP Flanders to try to find a solution to this problem, as there are students who may not have food security, and rely on that free breakfast to sustain them throughout the day.
- Clubs and Organizations Senator Reeves
I hope everyone had an amazing break. This past week, I had the opportunity to meet with the Downtown Campus Director, where we had a really productive conversation about ways to increase club involvement at the downtown campus. We discussed ideas for making clubs more accessible to students there, as well as introducing new initiatives that could help build a stronger sense of community and engagement. I also sent posters out to professors to help build more traction and awareness for the Student-to-Student Communication Committee, with the goal of reaching more students and encouraging participation. Additionally, there will not be a Student-to-Student Communication Committee meeting this week, as I will be away attending a conference, but I look forward to continuing this work when I return.
- Diversity Senator Charles
This week was a good and productive week, and I really enjoyed it. I took the initiative to reach out to the Black Student Union and introduced myself while offering support from the SGA office. I sent them an email giving them the opportunity to share anything they may need help with or ways SGA can support their organization, and I’m looking forward to hearing back from them. Overall, this week helped me reflect on how far I’ve come as a student, and I’ve seen personal growth within myself as well as within the SGA team.
- Athletic Senator Blaska
I hope everyone here had a well rested break, even though I’ve been quite busy I was able to enjoy a little bit of my time off. A few notes, keeping up with our Tribune Baseball team, as of writing this our tribunes are 8-4 and are on a 4 game winning streak. There have been some nice posts on the MCC athletics page about our teams recent success’s, as well as some things about the players and coaching. If your interested, definitely give those posts a look, as they go into more detail about the ongoings of out Tribunes. Overall though, it seems like things are going well for our Tribunes and I hope things continue to. Other than that, although not particularly of an athletic nature, we have a boat race happening, if it hasn’t already, in our pool here. I would encourage anyone here to attend, I think we ourselves may be competing in the race so it’s definitely something to look out for. With all that being said, I look forward to continue being apart of things here and making a difference.
Old Business
A. There was no old business.
New Business
- Darrell Jachim-Moore and Craig Ross – Administrative Services – Spoke to SGA about the Tuition and Tech Fee increases
Speak to the Senate - There was no one registered to speak to the senate this week
Adjournment
- Vice President of Governance Rizzuti called for a motion for adjournment.
Senator Breedy so moved, second by Senator Reeves - Meeting was adjourned at 2:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted