Throwback Thursday: 60 years of Student Government at Western Kentucky University

This year, Western Kentucky University is celebrating 60 years of an organization built around a pretty simple idea: students deserve a voice in what happens on their campus. But the story of WKU’s Student Government Association actually begins even earlier.

Back in 1956, Western created a student advisory council to help university administrators understand student concerns and what were called “student trends and ideas.” Its members included class presidents, student organization leaders, and even the editors of the Talisman and College Heights Herald. And some of their issues sound surprisingly familiar today: parking, registration, campus policies and student life. But by the 1960s, students wanted something more representative, and something with a stronger voice.

The push intensified amid concerns about student free speech and journalistic freedom at the Herald. By 1965, students and administrators were working toward a true campus-wide student government.
In the spring of 1966, a constitution was completed for a new organization called the Associated Students of Western Kentucky University. President Kelly Thompson approved it on April 1. Then came the important part: the students got to decide. In a campus-wide vote held April 26 through 29, students approved the new constitution by a vote of 1,812 to 726. On May 18, 1966, James P. “Jim” Haynes was elected its first President. Student government on the hill was officially born. Over the next six decades, the organization itself evolved.

In 1992, students voted to rename Associated Students the Student Government Association, or SGA. A major constitutional overhaul in 2004 helped create the three-branch system students know today: an Executive Cabinet, Student Senate, and Judicial Council. And the SGA President holds an especially important seat at the table, serving as the Student Regent on WKU’s Board of Regents. But perhaps the best way to understand SGA’s impact is to look at what students have actually fought for and funded.

Through the years, SGA has provided scholarships for study abroad, winter terms, first-generation students and other educational opportunities. In 2016 alone, SGA approved $16,800 for 56 winter term scholarships, scholar development grants, and study abroad scholarships. Its legislation has also tackled some of the biggest issues facing college students. SGA has advocated for stronger sexual-assault education and prevention, campus safety improvements and Title IX training. Students have supported sustainability efforts including eliminating Styrofoam and adding water-bottle filling stations. During Covid-19, SGA helped replenish supplies for WKU’s food pantry. It has funded student organizations and scholarships, supported mental-health initiatives, and even backed programs aimed at making textbooks and course materials more affordable.

The issues have changed, but the mission really hasn’t. Sixty years after WKU students voted to create their own representative government, generations of Hilltoppers have used it to ask the same fundamental question: What can we change to make Western better for the students who come after us? From a student advisory council in 1956 to Associated Students in 1966 to today’s Student Government Association, that’s 60 years of students finding their voice on the Hill.