LCC President Nikhar Ramlakhan on the right as the announcer for the International Basketball Showcase.
Since Covid hit in 2020 on-campus activities have slowed quite a bit. Three years later, the Student Government Association is hoping to bring back some life to campus this term. LCC’s Student Government Association President Nikhar Ramlakhan was elected in May of 2022 and started his term the following September. Ramlakhan shared with The Torch some upcoming events the SGA has planned and what they have been up to this past term.
Ramlakhan mentioned that a lot of international students don’t get to experience American traditions like prom; and considering that a lot of LCC students were in high school throughout the pandemic they didn’t get to experience prom either. The SGA is hosting a formal spring gala on Friday, May 19. They are hoping for a large turnout so students can experience some joy and tradition during this term.
Ramlakhan mentioned an open forum that took place after the lockdown on Feb. 22. He said that the college administration was there to take notes and receive feedback from students. About 5-6 students spoke. The speakers were concerned about the Lane alert system. During the lockdown not everyone was receiving the alerts. Some people, according to Ramlakhan, were left in the dark about what was happening on campus. Ramlakhan was one of the students who didn’t receive any alerts.
According to LCC President Stephanie Bulger, some alerts were sent to people’s spam emails or were showing up as scam calls. Bulger said that these issues have been corrected but she also encouraged students to update their phone numbers through ExpressLane.
Ramlakhan is an international student, from Johannesburg, South Africa, and much like statements from other international students he was “freaked out” by what was happening. Students in the US are prepared for these events, most people who graduated high school in the last 5-10 years experienced lockdown drills throughout school. President Bulger and the College Council mentioned self-locking doors as one additional preventative measure. According to Brett Rowlett, LCC’s Executive Director of External Affairs, “Self locking doors have been in the pipeline for a while.” They were a part of the budget in the 2020 bond that LCC received. LCC is still about 3-5 years away from having these self locking doors.
Elections are coming up for student government. Positions open are president, vice president, and eight senators-at-large. Elections will be held this term.
