Newly-elected Student Union officers and executive board members officially started the 2019-2020 term after being sworn in during the inauguration ceremony Tuesday evening.

Sophomore Tyrin Truong was sworn in as president of the 53rd executive board at the ceremony, along with sophomore Nia Plump, the new vice president of administration, sophomore Ariel Ashie, the new vice president of finance, freshman Beth Wiesinger, the new vice president of public relations and sophomore Charlotte Pohl, who was sworn in for her second term as vice president of programming. Seventeen Senate and Treasury members were also sworn in.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori White gave the ceremony’s opening remarks. She commended the work of the outgoing administration, as well as those who contributed to the formation of the SU Opportunity Fund, which will allocate $300,000 towards bettering the campus experience of low-income students. White and other SU officers then presented the check to Assistant Provost for Student Success Anthony Tillman.

Outgoing president senior Grace Egbo gave a final address as president before Truong was sworn in.

“It’s a bittersweet day because being a part of Student Union has been the best decision I’ve made, and I’m sad it’s coming to an end,” Egbo said during her address.

In his first address as president, Truong noted that for the first time the executive board was majority female and majority black. For Truong and the rest of the executive board, fulfilling the needs of marginalized groups was repeated as a major priority.

“[I hope to] make marginalized communities feel like they have a voice in their student government,” Truong said in an interview with Student Life. “Currently, they feel the farthest away from Student Union, and that shouldn’t be the case.”

Ashie said that she was interested in doing more to learn about how different financial situations affect marginalized students on campus, potentially looking into creating an investigative task force.

“I’ve done a lot of meetings already [and] met with a lot of people, building relationships,” Ashie said. “I think for the most part, it is going to be a lot of work, but I’m really looking forward to it. So far, it’s been pretty enlightening.”

Wiesinger said she wanted to help change the student body’s perception of SU during her term as VP of Public Relations.

“People don’t really know what Student Union does, and they don’t really trust Student Union, and there’s a lot of disconnect, so I want to make sure that bridge between SU and the people is formed so that people are aware of the resources that are here to serve them,” Wiesinger said.

Wiesinger said one of her key takeaways from the 52nd executive board was their advocacy for other students, especially in recent weeks. She said she was inspired by the work that her predecessor, outgoing vice president of public relations senior Rory Mather, did with other SU officers in advocating against the removal of the Gargoyle.

“What we just started doing the past few weeks is to really work from the ground up with grassroots advocacy,” Wiesinger said. “We’re taking that as far as we can and trying to advocate for students, which is what we should be doing every day.”