With the academic year coming to an end, Student Government Board president Marley Pinsky and vice president Olivia Budike reflect on the board’s year. 

SGB president Marley Pinsky and vice president Olivia Budike lead the board through initiatives like raising standards for SGB’s communication to the student body and pushing for more student advocacy. Pinksy and Budike also looked back on their trajectories through the board.

Pinsky, a junior urban planning and politics and philosophy major, said she initially became involved in SGB in her first year through the Community and Governmental Relations committee, wanting to better understand Pittsburgh and the surrounding community.

“I am from Maryland, and I really wanted to learn about the community and really know where I was,” Pinsky said. “Having a committee that was all about making connections with the broader Pittsburgh community, interacting with local government and interacting with community partners. That really spoke to me.”

After serving as chair of the CGR committee her sophomore year, Pinsky said she ran for president to “set the board’s tone” of not restricting its speech and messages they promote. 

“Especially around the time that I was deciding to run, there were a lot of issues around suppression of student activism, and I really saw SGB as a way to stand up for students,” Pinsky said.

Budike, a junior political science major, said she became more engaged in SGB after being encouraged to apply for the Campus Operations and Innovation committee her sophomore year, of which she became the chair and discovered her passion for “talking to students about their concerns [on campus].”

“I found out that I actually love doing the work of fixing things for people,” Budike said. 

Budike said she recognized Pinsky’s potential during a public meeting, a moment that eventually led to their campaign together.

“One time randomly during a public meeting, I said, ‘Marley, you would make such a good president,’ and everyone laughed it off,” Budike said. “A couple weeks later, she texted me, ‘Can I talk to you?’ and told me that she wanted to run for president.” 

Pinsky said when deciding who to campaign and run with, Olivia brought a high level of unity and inspiration that made her decision easy. 

“We were always bouncing ideas off each other, and she is very collaborative and has so many ideas to share,” Pinsky said.

After being elected vice president last spring, Budike said the first thing the newly-elected 2025-26 SGB board members wanted to do was reshape how closely SGB worked with students’ needs.

“We also sat down with our board, and we had to fix the culture internally,” Budike said. “This is an outreach organization — we are not meant to be internal, and we are not meant to be isolated.” 

Pinsky said she focused on working with University administration over the summer to address the changes in higher education, referencing Pitt replacing the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion with the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing after pressure from the federal government.

“Right away, whenever changes were happening over the summer, we were meeting with the administration,” Pinsky said. “We were trying to get questions and answers as to what was happening, what resources were still existing for people and how we make sure that they know about them.”

Pinsky said one of the immediate changes she wanted to address was the federal government’s threats to cut Pell Grants.

“We wrote letters to representatives across the state of Pennsylvania to try and advocate for the many students at Pitt,” Pinsky said. “We need [Pell Grants] to expand opportunities in Pennsylvania.” 

Looking forward, Pinsky said she hopes the 2026-27 SGB board makes progress on expanding student legal services, which allows students to ask an attorney for legal advice. Legal service hours currently run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, which Pinsky said could be expanded.

“I had this whole vision for how we could expand our student legal service program here at Pitt and have more hours for free legal consultations,” Pinsky said. “I feel like I have planted some seeds and I hope that they continue to grow into something that can provide a lot of legal aid and empowerment to students.” 

Budike emphasized her role as vice president taught her much about the career she aspires to have in the future. 

“Being able to be surrounded by people that also care a lot about what they do has made me really love being a leader,” Budike said. “Do I think that running for office is in my future? Maybe not, but I do think that being able to connect with people and hear their problems and then being able to have an impact — I would love to do that as a job.” 

Budike said students interested in SGB should get involved in it and that being a student at Pitt makes anyone experienced enough to participate in SGB.  

“What qualifies you to speak on behalf of students is your role as a student,” Budike said. “It is not a matter of strict qualifications, but more if you have the energy. Do not let anything stop you.” 

Both Pinsky and Budike emphasized the importance of continued student advocacy, encouraging students to use their voices even when they “do not see the change”.

“I think it is so important now, regardless of what you do or how you do it, to make sure that your voice is heard and that you are advocating on behalf of yourself,” Budike said.

“Students will always be here, and nothing is gonna change unless some students in their four years [at Pitt] are standing up for themselves, and they are speaking up on behalf of their experiences,” Pinsky said.