Stillman College senior Shalyn Smith will serve as Student Government Association (SGA) President for the 2012-2013 academic year.  The SGA will hold an Installation Ceremony to officially welcome the new president and her cabinet on Thursday, September 20^th, at 11 a.m., in the Stinson Auditorium on the College campus.

Smith, a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, is enrolled in Stillman’s prestigious Harte Honors College. She is an English major in the pre-law program, and plans to begin law school in the fall.  She has served in SGA since her freshman year, when she jokingly announced that she wanted to be president of the organization one day. Each year she held progressively responsible positions, and eventually served as vice president of academic affairs.  By the end of her junior year, she knew that she was ready to lead.  “My platform was Enhancing Student Life Academically, Financially and Socially because I wanted to increase programming, up school spirit, encourage graduation and make Stillman more fun,” says Smith, who has already begun fulfilling her campaign promises.

“My vice president of fiscal affairs recently worked with Stillman’s director of scholarship programs to create a Blackboard site that gives students easier access to scholarship information. Also, SGA has talked to administration about facility enhancements at Hay Center.  We would like to have pool tables and ping pong tables and a new television,” Smith states. “In addition, every Wednesday until October 26^th, we will hold voter registration drives on campus.  We are arranging a walk for young voters from Stillman, the University of Alabama and Shelton Community College.  We will walk from Stillman to downtown to encourage voting.  We have already been to the mayor’s office working out details with the city.”

Smith, who takes pride in being efficient, presented her senior thesis and completed her senior exit exam in her junior year so that she could focus on applying to law schools this year. Despite her busy schedule, which includes studying diligently to maintain a 4.0; visiting law schools; serving as an intern for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program; working part-time; and keeping up with sorority events, she says that she and her cabinet have been able “to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time.”