The 2024-2025 University of Kentucky Student Government Association (SGA) senate said goodbye to a year of work in its last full senate meeting as they welcomed new senators.

The senators, SGA president and vice president’s farewells were followed by the swearing-in of the 2025-2026 Senate on Wednesday, April 9, in the Gatton Student Center Senate Chamber.

2024-2025 SGA Student Body President Maddie Duff said some of the accomplishments of the senate throughout the school year included reworking the SGA website and Instagram page, making mental health services more accessible to students and sharing campus SGA and event information through the Cat’s Chronicle newsletter.

“What follows is more than a list of accomplishments, it’s a celebration of what happens when students lead with purpose,” Duff said. “Every initiative achieved was a result of students working together for a greater good.”

While some senators were reelected for the 2025-2026 senate, many said goodbye to the previous administration, the friendships and personal experiences they gained.

John Hurley, now first senate speaker-elect and previously the chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, said the turning over of the senate is always bittersweet.

“It’s always fun getting to meet the new faces, it’s always fun watching people get excited about elections . . . but it’s also hard saying goodbye to folks that I’ve known for years,” Hurley said. “There’s also that bit of optimism that comes with a new senate, we’re getting the opportunity to move forward and act on the will of the student body.”

Hurley said the new senate is uniquely positioned to serve UK students as it is inheriting a new constitution and will be rewriting SGA’s governing codes to reflect the new governing document.

He said the new senate is also the largest SGA has ever had, with 45 senators being sworn in during the meeting and an anticipated total of 68 senators once freshman and graduate senators are elected in fall 2026.

Hurley said the incoming senate is also the most inclusive he has seen, saying it represents graduate students, professional students, undergraduates and about 14 of UK’s colleges.

“A larger, more inclusive senate is a better senate,” Hurley said. “It does a better job of representing the student body.”

The new senate will begin operating immediately, with committee meetings and full senate meetings occurring every two weeks, according to Hurley.

First on the agenda, Hurley said, is for the new senate and the committees to pass bills changing SGA’s governing code to fit with the new constitution. Then, the committees will pass messaging resolutions outlining their goals for the academic year.

Hurley said he has heard interest from incoming senators in expanding mental health resources for students, responding to current events and addressing safety on campus.

As for the accomplishments of the previous senate, Hurley said he was pleased with the new constitution and the expansion of grant accessibility with the Graduate and Professional Entrance Exam Grant, which helps fund LSAT and MCAT exams for students.

Former SGA Student Body Vice President Dalton Bertram said the highlight of his year in SGA was the work he had done with student organizations and individuals on campus.

“Helping prepare (students) for life after graduation, preparing for graduate programs, going to conferences . . . any way we were able to support students throughout this year,” Bertram said.

The experience of being vice president, Bertram said, taught him how to advocate and care for a large body of people like the UK student body.

The new student body president and vice president-elect are McKenna Dowell and Jackson Baird. They were sworn in along with the rest of the new senators, as well as some new positions such as the solicitor general, who will represent SGA in some constitutional circumstances.

“I think this next administration is a great duo, I think they’re going to lead the charge very well,” Bertram said. “It’s very encouraging, we have the largest senate that we’ve had in the history of SGA . . . there’s a lot of energy, it makes me really excited to see what they’re going to get done this next academic year.”