Natalie Bowen is a VCU junior, a double-major in history and media production in the Honors College, and is now the Student Government Association president-elect for the 2026-27 academic year.

2026 marks Bowen’s third year in the SGA, holding previous positions as press secretary, social media coordinator and head of the communications committee. As a history and mass communications major, Bowen has made use of the SGA student archives to better understand how student government functions. 

“The reason why I am a history major… is that it teaches you not only about the past, but you learn so much about people in the way people think, and it gives you a lot of empathy, which is super important for any kind of line of work, but especially student government,” Bowen said. 

Bowen has stressed the importance of understanding history in relation to both people and politics. “People think [history is just] memorizing dates, but it's actually a very crucial skill that everyone should be aiming to acquire,” Bowen said.

Now that Bowen has been elected president, she has made it a priority to work closer with VCU administration, the student body and the greater Richmond community. 

“I want to really make sure that the administration knows where the SGA stands on everything; that they also know just what the general student body thinks about certain issues on campus. I want to continue to strengthen our relationship with the Greater Richmond community specifically,” Bowen said.

Bowen is looking forward to her year as SGA president, claiming that high senator outreach influenced record voter participation. Bowen hopes she can get more senators involved with students and campus activities this upcoming year. 

The SGA is always looking for new applicants and constructive feedback from the VCU community. More information can be found at the VCU Student Government Association website or @VCUSGA on Instagram. 

Read more about Natalie Bowman in the Q&A below

Can you explain what the VCU Student Government Association is responsible for?

The Student Government Association is broken into three different parts. We have the general senate body, which is mostly responsible for listening to student concerns and then relaying those concerns to administration and separate departments, trying to make those changes on campus. There's the Independent Financial Board, which gives student funding to student organizations from the student activity fee that we all pay. Then there's the Judiciary, which makes sure that the SGA runs constitutionally and also in rare cases where two student organizations are disputing, they act as a court system to help mitigate interorganizational conflicts.

What are the responsibilities of the SGA President?

It's going to be a lot of meetings. That's the president's role – to serve as the face of the organization, meeting with different administrations every week, connecting with the greater Richmond community to build that relationship and acting as the liaison between administration, departments, the student and the senate bodies. I will also be managing the leadership board, especially since we're getting so many new people into those positions, I will really have to be someone who helps facilitate that transfer of power.

How long have you been in the VCU Student Government Association and what have been your previous positions?

I joined in August 2023, my freshman year, and I was a senator in the communications committee for my entire freshman year. For most of that time, I was pretty much the only senator in that committee other than the press secretary at the time, so I did a lot of social media outreach. I actually ran for president my freshman year, because there was a vote of no confidence on the president at the time. I did not win, which is fine. I was definitely not ready for that big of a role at that time, because I didn't really know how SGA worked, or what the role of the president even entailed. The press secretary at the time brought me on as her deputy. I was in an appointed position, not an elected official, for my entire sophomore year, and I did a lot of work to build our social media, expand our outreach, our website; really trying to highlight the diversity of VCU through our social media. I ran for press secretary for my junior year, which is the role I'm in now. And I run the communications committee by myself. We started a newsletter this year, really trying to make sure that we are reaching as many people as possible, because so many students still don't know what SGA is or does, and I'm trying to fix that as much as possible.

What was the process of running for SGA President like?

I started planning my campaign probably a year ago. I did a lot of talking to people on campus, in all of my classes and in student organizations. I had some of my friends who were supportive of my campaign do that so we could reach as many people as possible and collect concerns along the way that I can take with me into next year. And then I won, so now I'm here.

What are your plans while in office?

I've really been reading the SGA archives in the library and how the SGA used to run. We've changed so much, and that has been really inspiring for how effective and actionable student government should look like. We've been slowly reimplementing some of those things, like having a more standardized dress code, using Robert's rules so we can maintain order and have respectful conversations in the Senate… I want to really make sure that the administration knows where the SGA stands on everything; that they also know just what the general student body thinks about certain issues on campus. I want to continue to strengthen our relationship with the greater Richmond community specifically.

Why should students get involved with the SGA?

I would say that we are mostly composed of the trio of political science, criminal justice and like homeland security, or something like that. Those three are the major [concentrations]. The SGA wants more people of all different disciplines and backgrounds on the SGA, because that's how we get the most accurate reading of who our student body is. We usually are pretty low on the art students, which I think we need more of because the arts school is such a huge part of our campus. Our student government should reflect that huge, integral part of our population.

What classes best prepared you for this role?

I would say all of them… Part of the reason why I am a history major is that it teaches you not only about the past, but you learn about people… it gives you a lot of empathy, which is super important for student government. You just really need empathy, and it also makes you a very logical thinker. People think [history is just] memorizing dates, but it's actually a very crucial skill that everyone should be aiming to acquire. I'm taking a sex and power class. We have a lot of conversations about power dynamics and abuse of power. I think that's definitely an eye-opener for how I go about my role as any leadership position.

Do you have any other thoughts you would like to share?

I'm always encouraging people to apply for SGA, we have a lot of outgoing seniors. I think we have 13 to 15 people graduating, so there will definitely be positions to be filled in the fall. So please apply, especially people who are in the humanities and in the arts. We need more of those perspectives, and even if you can't join, definitely follow us on Instagram @VCUSGA and tell us your concerns. Be open and transparent with us. All of our meetings are open to the public, Mondays from 4pm to 5:30 in the SGA chambers in the Commons.