SGA narrowly elects 2023-24 Speaker of the Senate

By ASHLEE THOMPSON The Breeze

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate voted senior Carlin McNeil Bumgarner as next year’s Speaker of the Senate, replacing current graduating speaker senior Daniel Gaffin, during Tuesday’s meeting. Bumgarner won with 52.8% of the 36 votes.

Senior Executive Treasurer Brandon Market nominated Bumgarner. Her opponent, sophomore SGA communications committee member James Love Jr., was nominated by sophomore Senator Lexi Alston.

Currently serving as student body vice president, Bumgarner told the Senate in her speech she “knows the ins and outs” of SGA and will make it her mission as speaker to “represent, serve and inform” the Senate while also ensuring transparency throughout the organization.

To represent, serve and inform “are beacons that should guide us to maximizing our fullest potential in serving the student body,” Bumgarner said during her speech. “As your speaker, it is my duty to help bridge the gap between [the SGA] and our mission.”

Love Jr., who began his speech with a moment of silence for the victims of the Redpoint apartment complex shooting overnight Friday, made a promise to remove the “barriers” between the SGA and the student body, noting there’s “tension” between the two and an overall unawareness of the SGA’s existence on campus.

Alston, who nominated Love Jr., began the debate period by calling her candidate an “amazing colleague” who’ll give SGA a much-needed “fresh voice.”

“I believe that getting James in this leadership position will be what he needs and what the committee needs to build that gap between students and the organization,” Alston said. “Having the voice of a person of color in a leadership position like that is what we really need as an organization.”

Sophomore SGA Senator Takiyah MonroseRichardson commended Love Jr. on his ability to stand out outside of SGA, especially since he’s only been at JMU for two years.

“People know James Love Jr.,” MonroseRichardson said. “His name is easy to remember and he is easy to remember.”

Market, who nominated Bumgarner, said he knows his candidate is “open to communication” and has the experience needed because he’s worked with her on a leadership team.

“I jumped headfirst into SGA as a very small fish in a big pond, and Carlin helped make that big pond feel a lot less smaller,” Reagan Polarek, 2026 student body president said. “She would make a phenomenal speaker.”

Sophomore Representative Brielle Lacroix reminded the Senate that the speaker position is an internal one, and said Bumgarner has had previous SGA positions that make her “perfect” for this role. Polarek added to this, saying the speaker has to be impartial, so their own opinions and personality shouldn’t play a role in voting.

In support of Love Jr., sophomore Finance Liaison Mahek Shroff said Bumgarner only reached out to people in “obligation” due to her title as student body vice president, but Love Jr. reached out to people because he wanted to.

After the results came out, Bumgarner was rushed with support from her friends and colleagues. She told The Breeze that she was “so honored” to be chosen as next year’s Speaker of the Senate.

After the meeting, Gaffin said Bumgarner will make a “great speaker” and commended the fact that she’s been doing her homework on how the Senate works by following him as he leads meetings.

“I decided to run for this a couple months ago,” Bumgarner said. “I can’t wait to do this job.”