New Year, New Faces: Meet Your Student Leaders

Angelica Sophia Negron

Student Government Association President

The Student Government Association (SGA) is the official voice of the undergraduate students at EU, according to SGA President Angelica Sophia Negron.

SGA is an elected student body that represents student needs and allocates funding to student organizations and clubs. The association works alongside university administration to recommend campus policies.

“I’m most excited about meeting new students,” Negron said. “We do have several new senators, and I think a completely new executive board. So, we are starting off on a fresh slate. I’m excited to be able to meet these people and take SGA to the next level.”

SGA’s executive board is made up of the president, vice president, chief of staff, treasurer, and parliamentarian. The association also has representatives and senators who represent different branches of student life, including Clubs & Orgs, DEI, Sustainability, International Students, and Transfer Students.

SGA holds open meetings every Thursday during protected hours from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Negron recommends all students reference SGA’s Instagram for frequent updates.

“If you bring your concerns to us we will be able to talk to the higher-ups,” Negron said. “Come out; we really want to see you guys.”

Patricia Perez

Student Government Association Vice President

Patricia Perez is the vice president of SGA. She is in charge of the policy committee and supports Negron in all of her responsibilities.

The policy committee helps form student policies and oversees the approval of clubs on campus. According to Perez, for a club to become officially recognized by EU, it must undergo various meetings with SGA and submit a proposal. Then, if the club meets the university criteria, SGA votes to determine whether they’ll be official.

Students can reach out to Perez if they have any concerns with advocacy or club funding, or for opportunities to create and establish clubs.

“I feel with SGA, overall, we just want to make the campus inclusive,” Perez said. “We want people to have a friendly environment.”

Perez is a first-generation, transfer, and commuter student. As someone who has taken a lot of evening classes, she’s passionate about ensuring those students receive the same amount of resources, events, and food available as everyone else.

Perez is excited to make new friends this upcoming semester. She said she’s not naturally an extrovert, and she joined SGA to use her voice and feel confident.

“In order to get the college experience, we do have to put ourselves out there,” Perez said. “I know it’s hard because we are studying, we are working, but it’s also fun to make new connections and take some time for yourself.”

Breana Smith

Student Government Association Treasurer

Breana Smith is SGA’s treasurer, meaning she handles club funding and oversees budget meetings. She chairs the Cooperative Funding budget (COOP), which is how non-budgeted clubs receive funding for events.

“I want people to know what’s going on, where their money’s going, why we’re doing it, and how we’re doing it,” Smith said.

Smith has previous experience balancing budgets through her Girl Scout troop in high school. She is looking forward to seeing what the rest of SGA is like. As an English Education major, it’s rare she gets to do math.

“Definitely go to a [SGA] meeting. Get to know your representatives. Talk to us,” Smith said. “Last year I know people felt like nobody knew what was happening, and so we want people to come to us, and know who we are.”

The SGA treasurer can meet with staff from Student Affairs or other administration to discuss club finance needs. Smith plans to take a student-first mindset to her role as a mediator between student and administration needs.

“I am personally in the mindset of students first because it’s our school essentially. They wouldn’t really have a job if it wasn’t for us,” Smith said. “I think the biggest thing is transparency. If it’s the school saying we can’t do that — being clear and [saying] the school is saying we can’t do that, not that we don’t want to.”

TJ Ellison

President of Union Board

Union Board is EU’s campus programming organization that hosts both on- and off-campus events for students. TJ Ellison, the president of Union Board, oversees a $100,000 budget allocated to various chairs on the board for events and marketing. Ellison also plans homecoming week, including the annual bonfire, as the homecoming chair on Union Board.

“Going to events is when I
started to meet a lot of people,”
Ellison said. “I’ve been so involved
on campus that if I never got out
of my room, I would never know
about these things.”

Ellison has been a part of Union Board since his sophomore year, making this his third year on the team. He said he’s gotten to learn what students like and don’t like through attending events and observing student feedback.

While students can expect an on-campus event roughly once a week, there are also off-campus events. In the past, Union Board has taken students to sports games, Six Flags, and a pumpkin patch.

Union Board collaborates with other clubs and organizations on campus like Greek life and SGA. Students can check when the Union Board is hosting events through their Instagram or Bluejay Life.

“There’s just so many events that you can get here that you don’t get after college. There won’t be a time where there’s an event every week once you graduate — you have to go find those,” Ellison said. “Take a friend with you; if you can’t, find a friend at an event.”

Dominick Tamburello

Orientation Student Leader Coordinator

Orientation Student Leaders (OSL) help incoming freshmen get oriented for the beginning of their first year at EU, from signing into emails and figuring out classes to familiarizing themselves with first-year seminar (FYS) classes to meet new people.

“We’re trying to get them to meet their first friends on campus and feel comfortable,” Tamburello said. “A lot of our OSLs hold other leadership positions in many clubs that allow us to introduce incoming freshmen to a lot of events and opportunities.”

As an OSL coordinator, Tamburello doesn’t have an orientation group himself. Instead, he runs training for OSLs and ensures his team is equipped with all the skills and resources they need to help incoming first years.

“The week of training is probably one of my favorite weeks of the year, and I always look forward to it,” Tamburello said. “We do a lot of bonding and we get to go and do excursions. We are like a family essentially, instead of just a team.”

While OSLs are most visible during orientation week, students can still reach out to OSLs throughout the school year. Many OSLs also continue to plan little events for their FYS groups.

“It’s probably one of my greatest college experiences,” Tamburello said. “I can go to any event on campus and I’ll know someone most likely through OSL.”

TJ Ellison and Alisha Khan are the two other OSL coordinators for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Christina Morris

ECHO President

Christina Morris is the president of the Elmhurst College Honors Organization (ECHO) — a student-led branch of the Honors Program that is centered around building community between Honors students. As president, Morris wants to help all Honors students enrich their academic journey.

“I’m just really passionate about learning — the process of growing as humans, the quest for curiosity and to make a positive difference by learning more about our roles and responsibilities in the world we contribute to,” Morris said.

Morris supports the ECHO board of students, oversees Honors events, and helps plan Partners for Peace — a national program that encourages students and faculty to engage in projects inspired by Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

“The point of ECHO is to nourish each other as learners, not just learning the material, but really understanding how to think and take into consideration different perspectives,” Morris said.

Morris said she joined the Honors Program to open her mind to different spheres of knowledge. To her, ECHO encourages other people to take the same approach to college.

“It’s up to you to make the most of your experience here,” Morris said. “‘Why am I here? What am I doing? What is my purpose?’ You just have to find out. You can’t really do that by hiding. You have to take risks, make mistakes, and really try your hardest to contribute and just to find your way.”

Careen Hazelgrove

Panhellenic Council President

Careen Hazelgrove is the president of EU’s Panhellenic Council, which oversees the seven sororities on campus. The council supports chapters with hosting group activities, holding philanthropic efforts, and encouraging women to go Greek.

Hazelgrove encourages students to participate in formal recruitment to learn more about Greek life and find the chapter that is right for them. Hazelgrove’s goal for the fall is to build unity among the chapters and encourage them to support one another. She is working with the recruitment chair to plan their fall recruitment event on Sept. 18.

“You don’t know until you try,” Hazelgrove said. “Go the first day and if you still think it’s not for you, that’s okay.”

EU has four national Panhellenic sororities, two National Pan-Hellenic Councils also known as the Divine Nine, and one multicultural sorority. Hazelgrove said Greek life helped her make friends and develop the leadership skills that helped her grow as a person.

“Whatever stereotype or notion that you have — it’s not what you think,” Hazelgrove said. “Signing up for recruitment weekend is a chance that you should really take. It can really make a difference in your college experience.”

Bryan Ramirez

Interfraternity Council President

Bryan Ramirez is the president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at EU. The council serves as oversight for all four fraternities on campus. Ramirez assists fraternities with any problems they run into and helps plan events that bring Greek life together.

“There’s a lot of stigma around Greek life that if you’re in a fraternity or sorority you’re just out partying,” Ramirez said. “We want to show that we’re here to help students exceed, pass college, and connect through networking.”

Ramirez hosts biweekly office hour meetings with the Panhellenic Council. He is in charge of ensuring chapter and IFC dues are paid and meets regularly with fraternity delegates to keep up to date on each chapter.

For the upcoming academic year, Ramirez wants to expand IFC through collaborations with the Panhellenic Council to bring the chapters closer together.

“My goal is I want to have a big social Greek mixer for Halloween,” Ramirez said. “This semester I want to bring everyone together. A lot of people think joining Greek life is paying for friends, but I don’t see it that way. It’s a network of brothers and sisters.”

To Ramirez, his chapter has always stood for his own values, and he enjoys seeing alumni come back years later to support their chapters. He hopes incoming students see Greek life as an opportunity to gain skills.