JOHNSON CITY (May 7, 2020) – Students at East Tennessee State University recently elected Student Government Association (SGA) officers for the 2020-21 academic year.
Shivam Patel, a junior majoring in health sciences with a concentration in human health, was elected president of the SGA. Patel is a member of the Roan Scholars Leadership Program and is a Preview and Orientation Leader. He spent the summer of 2019 as a site coordinator at Project Transformation, a literacy camp for children of low socioeconomic backgrounds in San Antonio. Patel was recently recognized as a recipient of the 2020 Appalachian Highlands Twenty Under 20 honors. He plans to attend medical school and obtain an M.P.H. degree so he can work in health care policy to increase accessibility and quality for those in need. Patel is from Morristown and is the son of Gautam and Kelly Patel.
Seth Manning, who was elected executive vice president of SGA, is a graduate student at ETSU, pursuing an M.P.H. degree in health services administration. Manning graduated with his baccalaureate degree from ETSU in 2019, when he was named the Outstanding Political Science Student in the Department of Political Science, International Affairs and Public Administration. As an undergraduate, he was a Midway, McNair, and Allen Wilkinson Civil Rights scholar; was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa honor society; and served as a student representative to the Tennessee Board of Regents. He holds a graduate certificate in leadership education from Vanderbilt University. He is the son of Rick and Diane Manning, Gray.
Josie Ward was elected vice president for finance and administration after serving the SGA as a senator and secretary of allocations. She is also treasurer of the Middle Eastern Student Association at ETSU. Currently a junior, she will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences with a concentration in human health in December 2020, followed by an M.P.H. in health services administration in the spring of 2022. She is a certified nursing assistant and electrocardiograph technician and volunteers at Johnson City Medical Center. Ward is a 2018 graduate of Johnson County High School and is also a Johnson County Leadership Class graduate. She is the daughter of Travis and Mandy Ward of Mountain City.