SBA Campaigns Q&A
Due to last week’s closure of Law School facilities, this year’s SBA Debate has moved online. We asked the two SBA campaigns ten questions—many of them submitted by you! Read below to see what they had to say.
C.A.S.E.
Marissa Varnado, James Torbert, Alana Caesar, Sophia Weglarz, & Kendall Rogers
1. One of SBA’s most important functions is event planning. Bar review, Barrister’s, Feb Club, special events for 3Ls—it’s a lot to manage. How will you make these events entertaining and accessible to as many law students as possible?
Our goal is to make SBA events fun and accessible by focusing on variety, affordability, and flexibility. We would capitalize on Sophia’s expertise gained from planning Bar Review and leverage our amazing committees for both graduation and Barristers’ to make 3L-specific events meaningful and enjoyable, and build on the success of this year’s Barristers’ Ball. SBA is a large organization that extends far beyond just the five of us on the executive board, and there are so many people who make SBA events possible, including committee heads, committees, Senators, the First-Year Council, among many others. We plan to carefully select committee heads and members who are interested and dedicated to making our signature events possible and exploring new events that just might become tradition themselves. Finally, cost should never be a barrier to full participation in SBA events, and we plan to continue to set aside funds and tickets for folks to utilize on a no-questions-asked basis should they need to.
2. How do you plan to solicit student input on programming to ensure it is relevant to all law students' interests?
Our goal as a leadership team is to create and facilitate many meaningful events both as SBA and with the collaboration of student organizations so that there is something(s) for every law student every semester. We will meet with the leaders of each student organization to learn what their members are looking for out of SBA programming as well as to learn how SBA can support them through their own programming, as well as host weekly office hours to hear from the student body. We also plan to solicit ideas and information through surveys to ensure that our forecasted programming aligns with what the student body would like to see.
3. I don’t know when or where SBA meetings occur, or if they’re even open to the public. I also can't find agendas or minutes from SBA meetings. How do you plan to bridge the gap between what SBA prioritizes and what students want?
SBA General Body Meetings are open to the entire student body unless a meeting is designated otherwise out of necessity. We plan to publicize this information, including when and where our meetings will be held, and increase the visibility and transparency of SBA by holding weekly office hours. We also plan to increase communication on behalf of SBA by including the meeting minutes in our weekly emails, leveraging the website as a source of announcements and updates, providing short updates in the UVA Law GroupMe, and soliciting feedback through surveys. We also hope to increase student engagement with SBA and with each other as a larger Law School community by incorporating more “SBA Socials” which create easy opportunities for folks to get together and enjoy each other’s company.
4. SBA roles require a significant time commitment, yet law students may struggle to balance their responsibilities, leading to delayed initiatives and unresponsive leadership in SBA. Given your current commitments—clinics, journal work, job search, extracurriculars—how will you ensure that you have the time and energy to actively fulfill your SBA duties? What will you prioritize if conflicts arise?
Time management is one of my strongest assets. I gained excellent time management skills both from being a women’s basketball athlete in undergrad and from my time as a high school teacher, lesson planning while also coaching the girls’ basketball team. Even with the combination of commitments I have had over the past two years (of which there have been many) I managed to never miss a single SBA meeting as a 1L Senator and missed only one this year as a 2L Senator due to a family emergency. While this makes clear that SBA is a top priority for me, I have managed each of my other commitments similarly—never sacrificing one thing for another. This year I served on the executive boards of three organizations while balancing a clinic and a journal, but most of these commitments will end before the close of the year. I have carefully considered the workload I will have both at the end of this year and as a 3L in advance of deciding that I am fully capable of serving in this capacity, and I feel confident that I will continue to fulfill each of my responsibilities as I have been able to over the past two years.
5. Considering the violence on campus ordered last spring and the recent events/threats against students for speech, how do you plan to address the speech environment at UVA?
We share the widely held concern regarding the way speech is increasingly constrained by new policies both from Main Grounds and from the Law School itself. SBA as a body is a conduit for student voices to reach the administration, and we plan to leverage these positions to share the concerns we are hearing and to advocate for students and organizations who are implicated by these changing policies. We believe that collegiality does not require masking or suppression of speech and that instead of dissuading students from engaging in certain ways through restrictive policies, opening lines of communication and facilitating dialogue creates true collegiality.
6. Will you support LALO getting its own office?
I absolutely support LALO’s goal of getting an office space for itself. I have come to understand that this has been a longstanding desire for LALO, and in the process of campaigning I have heard from other organizations who feel similarly. Once I have access to more information about the office reallocation process and what factors I would have control over, I plan to communicate early with student leaders to understand how they are utilizing their office spaces and learn their goals for any space they do have or might have in the future. I also hope to explore the possibility of and advocate for more space allocation to student organizations within the building beyond the existing office infrastructure.
7. How will you make it more accessible for students to communicate suggestions or concerns to SBA? How will you inform students once those suggestions and concerns have been communicated to the school’s administration?
In addition to sharing our meeting minutes in the weekly SBA email and holding office hours, I also plan to provide short updates regarding the steps we are taking to address issues that are brought to our attention, leveraging the UVA Law GroupMe for short updates and the weekly email for more detailed updates on concrete action items. I would also highlight the many committees within SBA and their leaders as well as highlight the class Senators and encourage them to make themselves available to their classmates to share concerns.
8. How will you/your team promote collegial relations between the many diverse student organizations on grounds?
We plan to promote collaboration between student organizations by suggesting potential co-sponsorship opportunities, introducing the leaders at President’s Summits, and working with Student Affairs and the Office of Community Engagement and Equity to revamp the affinity reception to make it a more meaningful opportunity for engagement between the many diverse student organizations. We also plan to host more Law School-wide events such as SBA socials to create more opportunities for interactions between students that may primarily engage socially through their student organization. Collegiality is a priority both for the Law School and for us, and we believe more engagement leads to true collegiality.
9. How will you support collegiality across the Law School community, particularly collaboration with the greater University graduate student community?
We plan to engage with student leaders of each graduate program and invite their schools to participate in our events that are open to non-law students. We also plan to encourage them to share information about their events with SBA and pass that information on to the student body. We hope to implement a communication system between graduate school leaders that allows students to remain updated about events or opportunities to get engaged with the greater graduate student community.
10. Where do you see room for improving the 1L experience at UVA Law?
We plan to work with Student Affairs and Admissions to ensure that 1Ls are connected to relevant affinity organizations before they arrive on Grounds. We can improve the first-year experience by integrating more 1L-wide activities and enhancing existing school-sponsored events, like cross-section lunches, that will help first-year law students become more quickly acquainted. We also plan to provide a more in-depth introduction to SBA at orientation and the Student Activities Fair, and hold 1L specific office hours during their first weeks on Grounds.
Let Us Serve You
Mark Graff, Will Chambers, & Rachel St. Louis
1. One of SBA’s most important functions is event planning. Bar review, Barrister’s, Feb Club, special events for 3Ls—it’s a lot to manage. How will you make these events entertaining and accessible to as many law students as possible?
Our ticket isn’t just familiar with SBA event planning—we’ve been directly responsible for executing and improving major events. Mark revamped Bar Review last year by partnering with student orgs, launching “Bar Czar” emails, and expanding venues beyond the Corner using his Charlottesville bartending experience. As the executive board liaison to the Barristers’ and Programming committees, he helped turn Barristers’ from a $25,000 loss to a financially viable event and spearheaded large-scale programming like Fauxfield.
We believe SBA programming shouldn’t be on autopilot. With the wealth of experience and fresh ideas our ticket brings, we’re committed to providing new marquee events and making SBA programming more engaging, inclusive, and student-focused than ever.
2. How do you plan to solicit student input on programming to ensure it is relevant to all law students' interests?
Speaking frankly, our executive board would simply use the tools already available. SBA is already empowered to conduct snap referenda as well as to ask folks about their thoughts in pre-existing school- and class-wide channels. We already know some of the inclinations of the student body (e.g. better sober-inclusive events and bringing all classes together beyond Barristers’ and the PILA Silent Auction)—we just need to take the last step forward and ask folks directly. Along with relevance to students’ interests, this issue is also fiscal: unsuccessful or unwanted events—such as this year’s 3L Bonfire—cause financial losses, preventing the efficient use of students’ funds towards other organizations and activities.
3. I don’t know when or where SBA meetings occur, or if they’re even open to the public. I also can't find agendas or minutes from SBA meetings. How do you plan to bridge the gap between what SBA prioritizes and what students want?
This has been an essential part of our platform since day one: SBA meetings are open to the public, yet are not advertised. If elected, we will send out the meeting agenda, location, and time, ensuring students are aware of what is being discussed and how to get involved, as well as post minutes from our public sessions on the SBA website. Far too many law students feel that SBA lacks either the ability or motivation to address their direct concerns, but this doesn’t have to be the case. By expanding access and transparency with our meetings and proactively engaging students/student organizations for feedback, we can bridge the gap and make SBA a visible presence in the Law School experience.
4. SBA roles require a significant time commitment, yet law students may struggle to balance their responsibilities, leading to delayed initiatives and unresponsive leadership in SBA. Given your current commitments—clinics, journal work, job search, extracurriculars—how will you ensure that you have the time and energy to actively fulfill your SBA duties? What will you prioritize if conflicts arise?
It is essential that the leadership of SBA has the capacity to fully dedicate themselves to serving the student body. While we’re all involved in student organizations, our ticket stands out because SBA has been the primary extracurricular commitment of both Mark and Will since our 1L year, including our combined two years on the executive board, giving our ticket a clear understanding of the time and energy demands of the roles. If elected, SBA will continue to be our top priority, and you can trust that we will be fully dedicated to ensuring that SBA operates efficiently and starts delivering real results for UVA Law.
5. Considering the violence on campus ordered last spring and the recent events/threats against students for speech, how do you plan to address the speech environment at UVA?
Protecting student speech rights is a central part of our platform. SBA has a responsibility to advocate for an environment where free speech is protected in practice, not just in policy statements. Though UVA has issued the “Statement on Free Expression and Free Inquiry,” we know that speech rights have been attacked, even within the Law School itself.
We would take an active role in ensuring that all students feel comfortable expressing their views, from publishing resources on student rights to advocating directly with administration and using SBA’s voice to proactively shield students from attacks on their speech. SBA should also recognize the Law School’s unique position in the university community: undergraduates and other graduate students look to us for guidance on speech issues, and SBA can lead that by sponsoring panels and providing resources on student speech rights.
6. Will you support LALO getting its own office?
Our campaign has firsthand experience with the office allocation process, with Will serving on the last SBA executive board to re-allocate rooms. As such, we recognize a few constants. First, affinity organizations, LALO included, have discrete needs and solo spaces are often necessary to foster a sense of safety and community among members. Additionally, use cases among organizations vary—some organizations use their rooms as space for frequent and significant events, whereas others focus more on storing equipment or other property. Further, the previous ways that rooms were allocated often depended on personal connections instead of holistic assessments of particular needs. Finally, there are more organizations than rooms available in the Law School.
With this in mind, our executive board would base the administering of offices on a rigorous investigation of organizations’ proposed use for the space, size of membership, and novel needs. More than a mere survey, we would connect one-on-one with representatives to deeply understand every organization and make decisions accordingly. The office selection process will be transparent, engaged, and informed, and LALO will absolutely have its unique needs addressed when deciding office selection.
7. How will you make it more accessible for students to communicate suggestions or concerns to SBA? How will you inform students once those suggestions and concerns have been communicated to the school’s administration?
If we are elected, SBA will post the time and date of its meetings, both physically and through online channels, as well as maintain a regular “Ask SBA” function on the SBA website. On the back end of meetings, public session minutes, including updates on meetings with Dean Kendrick and Dean Davies, would be posted on the SBA website and noted in online communication. As such, then, as the general body of SBA is given updates as to ongoing advocacy with administration, so would the rest of the school, empowering students to participate throughout the entire advocacy process.
8. How will you/your team promote collegial relations between the many diverse student organizations on grounds?
SBA is the only organization that all students here belong to, and the wide diversity of student interests and organizations at our school is one of the things that makes UVA Law so special. Furthermore, current attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are worrisome and we recognize the need for organizations to be protected and empowered to continue their work. That’s why Rachel, as Vice President of DEI, would hold office hours multiple times semesterly to meet with leaders of student organizations and ensure their needs are being met. Further, we would all work to schedule monthly events highlighting community and belonging, particularly with multiple organizations co-sponsoring, to support togetherness among diverse interests.
9. How will you support collegiality across the Law School community, particularly collaboration with the greater University graduate student community?
While the prior question addressed collegiality within the Law School, our ticket is also uniquely positioned to expand this to the greater UVA graduate school community. Will currently lives on the Range alongside grad students from all different schools, and serves as the sole Law School representative to the Graduate School Professional Council, the governance body for grad school collaboration. We know that engaging the broader grad school community often requires no more than a quick email, and we are confident that our continued relationships with other graduate students will render new opportunities for law students as well.
10. Where do you see room for improving the 1L experience at UVA Law?
We’ve always seen room for improving the 1L experience here—that’s why, as FYC President and Vice President, Will and Mark championed 1L representation on the SBA executive board, ensuring through constitutional amendment that current and future 1Ls have a direct line to the organization’s most inner workings and conversations.
That said, 1L is always a demanding transition. Mental health support is particularly important to us, and we would expand Mental Health Week offerings into year-long programming. We will also help prepare 1Ls proactively by bringing back the 1L Guide—a UVA Law tradition—and centralizing communication methods to 1Ls with regular SBA calendar updates so 1Ls can be aware of events on the horizon.