Newly elected members of the Student Government Association were inaugurated in front of the Gorgas House Tuesday. Many former members of the Executive Council were in attendance, including former SGA president Matt Calderone.

“I’m excited for the next generation of leaders,” Calderone said in his welcome address. “You are looking at some of the best and brightest on the campus of The University of Alabama, not only academically but also as leaders.”

Jimmy Taylor also spoke to the crowd in a short inaugural address just moments after being sworn in by SGA Chief Justice Benjamin Sleight as the 101st Student Government Association president. He began with a short moment of silence for Mal Moore and praised the leadership of the late athletic director of The University of Alabama.

“We have worked to re-establish lost trust with the student body, and I look forward to continuing the process began by the Calderone administration,” Taylor said. “I also look forward to better incorporating the students and community into the Student Government Association.”

Following the inauguration, Taylor explained his initiatives to better involve the students and community.

“The Delegates Program is something we have been working on since the beginning of this past term. What we do is take a junior member and a senior member from student organizations across campus, and we meet with them to see what we can do for them,” he explained. “We then team them up with other student groups. It really helps to get the student groups better involved and work more closely together.”

Will Pylant, the newly inaugurated executive vice president, explained other ways in which SGA was trying to increase student engagement.

“One way that we are going to be able to bridge gaps between students is going to be the RAGE concert. Last year there were some issues with it, and we could have managed it better,” Pylant said. “This year we have already started working on it, trying to make it something that all students are excited about. You already see students getting excited about it and tweeting about it. That might be one of the ways.”

The newly elected SGA officials, their families and a number of members of other student groups and institutions met at The Zone-North at Bryant-Denny Stadium for a banquet immediately following the inauguration ceremony.

At the banquet, Matt Calderone expressed his enthusiasm for the newly inaugurated SGA and reflected on his own administration.

“I think we restored the student body’s trust in the Student Government Association. Our goals were to make sure that student government was relevant to every student, that we returned to a foundation of service and to make sure that we were putting students first in everything,” Calderone said. “I am excited for them. It is a strong group with a lot of people from the executive council last year, and they have a strong background in leadership.”

When asked if he had any regrets in regards to his administration, Calderone explained they had done everything that were able to do and he was pleased with his tenure in office.

“You know we had a great year, and I am truly happy with it. I am honored to have even had the privilege and experience,” Calderone said. “No regrets.”

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