The Student Government Association at the University of Massachusetts announced that they had created an official TikTok account at their weekly senate meeting on Wednesday night.

“I was either ballsy enough or stupid enough to do it . . . we now have @UMassSGA on TikTok,” said Michael Suchecki, the SGA’s secretary of public relations and marketing.

The decision to create a TikTok account was inspired by several other Universities’ SGA’s which also created accounts.

“Other SGA’s have done it and it is a good way to get out information, as well as let people know that we’re not taking ourselves too seriously,” said Suchecki.

President Timmy Sullivan also spoke about the tribal liaison position that the SGA has been pushing the administration to implement on campus. He expressed concerns regarding the University’s lack of action around the position: “It doesn’t seem like there is immediate movement from the administration’s side, which I think is quite troubling,” said Sullivan.

Also during the meeting, the SGA formally congratulated the Yuri Kochiyama Cultural Center for being presented the 2020 Leadership for Inclusion and Diversity award. This award was presented by the program director for the Asian American Commission of Massachusetts.

“The cultural center was awarded this for their advocacy work within the state of Massachusetts, and I think that’s really tremendous,” said Sullivan.

Vice President Hayden Latimer-Ireland also spoke about the cultural center’s achievement:

“The work that they’ve been doing is incredible, and I think it’s really great that they’ve been acknowledged in that way,” she said.

Christopher Figueiredo was appointed to the position of secretary of veteran’s affairs. Figueiredo has not been previously involved in the SGA, but applied to the position as a way to become more active on campus.

“When I saw that the Secretary of Veterans affairs position was open, I thought it would be a great way to get involved,” Figueiredo said. “I think I could be a great voice for student veterans on this campus, even though I am not a veteran.”

Figueiredo also outlined some of his priorities in the position: “What I’d like to do is work out veteran prices for meal plans, so that veterans don’t feel as pressured by the high price of meal plans,” he said.

Speaker Rachel Ellis also outlined some guidelines regarding the upcoming SGA elections. She specified that there should be no campaigning or discussion of elections in the SGA office, and no campaigning before the campaigning period starts.

“If you have campaign materials that you’ve put up on social media take them down,” said Ellis. She also encouraged anyone considering running for SGA Speaker to come talk with her about the position.

Sophia Gardner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @sophieegardnerr.