By Kaitlin Bavaro
Staff Writer
Student Government (SG) hosted its second meeting of the school year on Sept. 15 in a hybrid format, with most attendees being in-person and some joining through Zoom.
The meeting began with three potential clubs pitching to become recognized officially so that they can be up and running. Each club explained the purpose of its organization and what it hopes to accomplish for this year. The first club was Delight, a chapter dedicated to “inviting college women into a Christ-centered community.” After a debate from SG members, Delight was approved.
The next club pitch was Autism Awareness, which is an organization dedicated to creating “a better understanding and to encourage advocacy and acceptance of the Autism Spectrum Disorder.” The final club was Girls Who Code College Loop, a club dedicated to helping women in tech through workshops, events, resources and ultimately “closing the gender gap in tech,” according to the group’s powerpoint. Both of these clubs were also approved with no debate or objections.
Following the club pitches was the parliamentarian election. The only candidate was freshman Gianna Glover who briefly explained what she wishes to accomplish. She was voted in with no discussions or objections.
SG then went over the progress and meeting details of many campus committees, such as the Committee of Academic Planning, Committee on Faculty Affairs, Teacher Education Council and many more, which gave brief summaries of recent updates.
Among these committees, the spokesperson with the longest report was the Dining Services Committee, due to the increasing complaints regarding the Atrium at Eickhoff Hall. The person speaking on behalf of the Dining Service Committee, junior biology major Zion Lee, explained that the food shortage is due to the College’s food service company Sodexo canceling orders and forcing dining service employees to personally pick up food. They are short-staffed, and current employees have been working six to seven days a week.
Lee said there is no excuse for not having enough food, offering food of poor quality or getting yelled at by staff members. The committee recommends reporting getting treated poorly by employees directly after it happens. Moreover, the dining hall is now hiring students, where students can pick their hours and earn some free meals.
Each board member of SG went on to talk about what they have been doing for their respective chapters. This included reports from the executive president, the different vice presidents of various committees, the student trustee, the alternate student trustee, the speaker of the General Assembly, the chief of staff and the chief strategist.
The vice president for Student Services and the speaker of the General Assembly have been working diligently on events for Spirit Week and a two-day homecoming fest, occurring from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. Such activities include bingo, a field day, karaoke, a volleyball tournament, cultural cuisine night, trivia, Finish the Lyrics, a t-shirt giveaway, an arcade night, Lions Cup, a yard show, Clash of the Classes and more.
There were brief cohort reports from the senator of Arts and Communications, the senators of Business, the senators of Education, the senators of Humanities and Social Sciences, the senators of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science, the senators of Science, the Class of 2022, the Class of 2023 and the Class of 2024.
The meeting ended with an advisor report, where Director of Student Involvement Dave Conner recommended that students show school spirit by attending the events of Spirit Week and homecoming fest.
“Please come out and support members of SG and show the rest of the school that this is what we do at homecoming,” said Conners.
