Packard, Siener and Ngum sworn in Purdue Student Government for ‘24-’25 school year

Purdue Student Government formally swore in next year’s student body president, Jason Packard, and the Vice President Rebecca Siener.

Shekinah Ngum was also sworn in as the vice president of the Indianapolis campus. The 2024-25 school year will be the first year that the Indianapolis campus will be included as part of Purdue Student Government. Future ballots will be a three person ticket, with one representative from the Indianapolis campus.

“The incorporation of the Indianapolis campus with Purdue is really interesting from all fronts and how we are going to involve them with our student organizations, whilst working on accessibility and issues between both campuses is a focus of ours,” said Packard.

This comes after last week's university-wide email announcing Packard, a junior in chemical engineering, and Siener, a junior in biology with minors in chemistry, psychology and law and society, as Student Body President and Vice President.

The duo ran on a campaign that included lawn signs, hats and a strong social media presence.

“Everyone ran a great campaign over the last few months and it was a lot of fun. A lot of great ideas,” Packard said. “Rebecca and I are really excited about the opportunity to serve the student body next year as we work with administrators and students to fulfill our initiatives.”

Highlighted legislation proposals include Packard and Siener’s push to create updated legislation for the Indiana Lifeline law.

Currently, the law doesn’t protect an individual or student from getting cited for being intoxicated when seeking medical attention, but only the caller. This would affect students and underage drinkers, Siener said.

“Our intention is to work with students of our cabinet to form a committee to work on this so we can create the relations that are necessary to get this through, which might include student leaders from other campuses to raise advocacy,” Packard said.

The duo has their sights set on other goals like expanding Purdue’s education resources and making them more accessible, as they plan to work with Boiler Exams.

“One of our professors, Dr. Joe Chen has published all of his past lectures, and this has really aided students in his department. And a lot of students, really, really rely on a lot of these past lectures,” said Siener. “We want to work with administrators so we can hopefully normalize publishing lecture materials.”

The duo also believes SWANA, the Southwest Asian and North African Student Association, is due for their own cultural center.

Siener and Packard said the pair are both open minded to new ideas and input from students.