World Campus students elect new student leaders for 2021-22 school year

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State World Campus students have elected a new slate of student leaders to represent them in the 2021-22 school year.

The president-elect of the World Campus Student Government Association is Mona Hill, and the vice president-elect is Ariel B. Hinojos. The positions are the first roles for both Hill and Hinojos in the Student Government Association.

Penn State World Campus students voted online in the World Campus Student Government Association election from Feb. 22 to March 5 for five positions on the executive board and five committee chair roles. The 10 student leaders will begin their terms in April.

The government, which formed in April 2019, advocates for the interests and concerns of Penn State World Campus’s more than 14,000 online learners to enhance their student experience.

Hill, who is in the bachelor’s in energy and sustainability policy program, said she is honored to be elected as president and excited to take on the new role. She said she aims to use the leadership skills she has developed through her career in the Air Force and as president of the Penn State World Campus Sustainability Club.

“I will continue to strive for the personal and professional development of myself and those around me while upholding and prioritizing a positive and healthy environment,” said Hill, who lives in Honduras. “I will prioritize finding ways to represent all students in World Campus and making myself available to my peers so that their voices are heard in order to correctly represent them and their experience.”

As the vice president-elect, Hinojos said she looks forward to working with Hill. Hinojos, who is majoring in law and society and wants to attend law school after graduation, has been involved in various Penn State World Campus student clubs. She is president of the service sorority Zeta Mu Phi Collegiate United and participates in the Penn State World Campus chapter of the Blue and White Society, the Phi Delta Phi pre-law honor society, the club Active Minds, and Penn State’s Student Programming Association.

“My priorities now that I am elected are to continue to be the voice for World Campus students and to assist in creating a better learning environment,” said Hinojos, who lives in Wyoming with her husband and three children. “I look forward to working with the president to implement new ideas into World Campus.”

The Student Government Association is supported by the Penn State World Campus Student Affairs office.

“We are pleased to see the election of a diverse and representative group of leaders in the World Campus Student Government Association, which will continue to help ensure online learners are full participants in the Penn State community,” said Ashley Adams, the senior director of Penn State World Campus Student Affairs. “We look forward to working with them as the new officers begin their term.”

The winners of the offices that will form the executive board of the World Campus Student Government Association are:

• Mona Hill, president
• Ariel B. Hinojos, vice president
• Denise Koehnke, speaker of the assembly
• Sabrina Smith, secretary
• Kyle Harmon, treasurer

The winners of the committee elections are:

• Jennifer Gomez, academic affairs committee chair
• Emily Bourne, governmental affairs committee chair
• Corinne Coffey, marketing and communications committee chair
• Rachel Foster, student affairs committee chair
• Carmina Pérez, technology committee chair

Visit the Penn State World Campus website for more information about the student government.