Ilianna Murphy was inducted as the new sophomore class president at the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Feb. 8.

The letter of resignation from former Sophomore Class President Aleah Casebeer was read at the meeting, leaving a gap in sophomore class representation. According to the SGA constitution, the sitting student body president and vice president are to nominate the new class president in the case of resignation.

The nominee must be a sitting class senator and typically is the most senior member of the representatives of the class. Murphy fit the bill. 

After a senate majority vote at the meeting, the nomination was finalized and she was inducted into the new role as sophomore class president and will begin her duties immediately. 

“I’m just going to pick up where Aleah left off; try to get with the committee members that she had led,” Murphy said. 

A political science and history major, Murphy has been a member of SGA since the second semester of her freshman year. “I was just really interested in political science, that’s what I like to talk about,” she said.

She decided to continue her momentum on SGA and ran again to represent the sophomore class. 

Now, as the sophomore class president, Murphy’s representation of the sophomore class will look different. She will now be helping with the planning of Campus Day and is the head of the Student Organizations Committee (SOC). 

Murphy is not only continuing her momentum on SGA but is now working as a Political Science and Communications Intern for Advocacy Strategies, LLC at the Iowa State Capitol. 

Working alongside her as a sophomore class senator, Abby Meyer is excited to see what Murphy will bring to the table. 

“I’ve had great experiences working with Ilianna on SGA. She does an amazing job of asking difficult questions and collaborating with her fellow representatives to find ways to better serve the Simpson community,” Meyer said. “ I think many students would agree that she will do a fantastic job serving as the sophomore class president.”

It is Murphy’s hope to represent the sophomore class to the best of her abilities and give students a voice.

“I will definitely try to work with the other execs to raise up student voices and opinions and try to do what students want,” Murphy said.