Every year, Biola University’s Student Government Association (SGA) holds elections for a new president and vice president as well as new members of the Senate. The Senators represent each residence hall with senators to represent commuters, too.

In this episode, host Reagan Glidewell interviews the president and vice president candidates Faith Ising and Hillary Ramirez about their campaign and mission for the 2025-2026 academic year. Ising served as a Senator for Sigma Hall while Ramirez served as a campaign manager for the current SGA president and vice president. They dive deep into their mission to be “led by His light” through a campaign focused on servitude and transparency within the Biola community.

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Last April, the Senate passed legislation that would ban TikTok in the U.S unless its owners agreed to sell the platform. After the app’s parent company ByteDance filed a First Amendment lawsuit challenging the ban, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the ban two days before it was set to take effect. TikTok failed to secure a deal in time and the platform went dark on Jan. 18. However, it returned the next day after then-President-elect Donald Trump announced he would pause the ban, with a pop-up message that read, “​​Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”

According to an executive order signed on the day of President Trump’s inauguration, the ban has now been postponed for a 75 day period. In this episode, Thomas Rahkola interviews Biola students senior Anjoli “Jo” Person, freshman Eve Harter, freshman Matthew Jonker and sophomore Sarah Kim to get their perspective on the app and the U.S. government’s efforts to ban it.

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In June of 2023, Biola University President Dr. Barry Corey released an internal email statement announcing the closure of the centralized Division of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and the opening of the decentralized Unity in Diversity Advisory Council. In an internal email last Thursday, the president introduced Talbot chair and professor of theology Dr. Uche Anizor as his co-chair to lead the council. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to disband all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In this episode, host Reagan Glidewell interviews junior psychology major Ashley Newman about her letter to the Office of the President published in The Chimes last Friday, and the implications of a decentralized D&I office at Biola. Last academic school year, Newman served as the Vice President of D&I for Biola’s Student Government Association (SGA). She shares her perspective as a student who worked closely with Biola’s D&I division and explains the concerns she included in her letter. They mention Biola’s Unity Amidst Diversity statement and 2021 Strategic Diversity Plan.

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