By Andrew Scalf, Emily Bontrager, Alexis Podgers and Grant Flora
IWU’s Student Government Association hosted their annual ‘State of the Campus’ over hot chicken wings, March 26.
“We don’t often get to hear directly from the faculty, so that was a really unique experience,” Ian Foster, SGA director of student organizations elect, said.
Foster said being able to hear directly from those in charge helps students better understand what those departments are doing.
“Oftentimes we only get up, we go to classes, then we go back to sleep. But it’s important to understand why things are happening,” Foster said.
The panel featured faculty from Student Development, Academic Affairs, Intercultural and Global, and Men’s Basketball.
“It’s kind of the culmination of what I think SGA is,” Kaylynn Miller said, “It’s that bridge between students and faculty and administration.”
Miller, SGA head of academic affairs, was one of the four hosts.
Planning for State of the Campus, SGA weighed their planning for a separate “Hot Ones” event.
“They have the same mission right? Which is to bring the information that faculty and administration know to students in a fun and engaging way. Combining them seems just like the right answer,” Miller said.
The four hosts from SGA sat one-on-one in round style interviews. In-between questions, both host and faculty ate progressively hotter wings.
“I was pretty confident. We lived in Buffalo, New York for a while, so I’ve eaten a lot of chicken wings, and I’ve had some pretty hot wings, but that sauce was, I think I can only describe it as unnatural,” David Davies said.
Davies, vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer, was in the second round interview by Miller.
“Not only was it pretty funny to watch people suffer through extremely hot sauce, but it was also informative,” Davies said.
Davies said it wasn’t just beneficial for students.
“I learned a lot about some of the other folks here on campus, and the stuff they do in their offices,” Davies said.
Davies fellow panel members included Brian Jaworski, Jonathan Mpanzu, and Brayton Cain.
