This semester, Simpson College welcomed four new senators and a class president to represent the first-year class in the Student Government Association.

Diana Sagastizado has taken on the role of first-year class president. Sagastizado is from Osceola, Iowa and plans on double majoring in political science and multimedia communications.

Sagastizado is involved with other campus activities. She’s part of Greek Life as well as being a Culver Fellow. She also works at the chapel and is on the debate team.

Many factors inspired Sagastizado to be part of SGA. 

“I definitely wanted to step outside my comfort zone,” she said. “I wanted to take on different leadership roles, opportunities and things I could gain from that. It’s not just another title you obtain, there’s work that comes with that and I feel like it would be really beneficial for me to take it year by year.”

Sagastizado hopes to give back to the Simpson community as well. She finds clubs to be important to the college experience and wants to be an advocate for different clubs. She also wants to be able to represent her class effectively.

“I’m a very social person, so I’m not scared to bring things up and talk to people or speak up about certain topics, I want to provide a voice for the first-year class,” Sagastizado said.

One of the new first-year senators is Heaven Lynch. Lynch is specifically part of the finance committee with SGA. She is from Aurora, CO and hopes to major in biology and pre-med.

Lynch was impressed with how student-led SGA is, which motivated her to run for a position.

“I like that it’s student-led. It’s very much about how students are helping other students, and just giving them that voice,” she said. “I think a lot of power dynamics within academics is a lot about teachers or professors over the students, so the idea that it’s students for students is really intriguing.”

Lynch hopes to gain more leadership knowledge through SGA. She also wants to gain a stronger understanding of how different factors affect and impact our campus life.

Most of all, Lynch wants to give a voice to students when they don’t always feel heard.

“I feel like as a first-year it’s more difficult to get your voice heard because nobody knows who you are. By me being in the position to provide their voices to SGA. Hopefully, we’ll get a lot more first-year feedback and be able to incorporate that with students who are a little more well known,” Lynch said.

Chase Henry is another senator for the first-year class. Henry is from Mount Ayr, Iowa and plans to major in finance econ and business management with a possible minor in accounting. Henry also plays tennis for Simpson and is involved in other activities.

Henry’s motivation for being part of SGA mainly came from the experiences he had in high school.

“I was involved in many similar things in high school,” Henry said. “We had a student government type board that I was part of. I was a districts studies student representative, class vice president and vice president of National Honor Society. I had a voice on campus and in my hometown.”

With the experience Henry has from high school, he hopes to continue to provide a voice to students. Henry said he wants to act as a “liaison” and represent the student body to other members of SGA along with members of the school’s administration.

Henry still wants to learn and grow with his new position.

“I’ve already gained quite a bit. Overall, I want to learn more about campus and how to improve it. A big topic right now is sustainability and safety on campus,” Henry said.

Sara Eddy from Fontanelle, Iowa will also be representing the first-year class as a senator. Eddy wants to major in pre-theology with a minor in psychology and political science. Eddy is also involved in theater, speech and debate, religious life and rugby.

Eddy’s deep interest in political science is what pushed her to take a position in SGA.

“I’m going to be a political science minor. I love politics and I love giving people who may not want to speak up or anything a voice,” she said. “To be able to change things for the better.”

Speaking up for what she believes in and what is right is something Eddy is passionate about. It’s also something she hopes to bring to Simpson.

“I want to make Simpson feel like a happy place. I want it to feel extremely comfortable for everybody,” Eddy said.

The final first-year senator is Drake Wood. Wood is a political science major from Kansas City, MO. Wood is a Culver Fellow, on the speech and debate team, part of Greek Life and is part of the pre-law society here at Simpson.

Wood was a senator for student government in high school and wanted to continue to do so after.

“We were very involved. We went to New Orleans, and rebuilt homes still damaged from Hurricane Katrina,” Wood said. “We learned about how society in Louisiana is different than where I’m from in Kansas City. We also did other service projects like working at food banks, so I knew I wanted to continue service in college.”

Service is something Wood is very passionate about. It’s something he wants to give back to Simpson and learn even more from. One of his main goals is to give what he can to the students.

“I don’t really hope to gain anything, I just want to give back to the Simpson community and Simpson College because it’s been nothing but a great experience so far,” Wood said.

These five students are excited to serve Simpson students and are passionate about what they’re doing.