BY ALANA PERRY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
To keep Bellarmine University students, faculty and staff informed of changes on campus, The Concord will be providing coverage of each meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA). Meetings are open to all students and occur every other Friday at 3:30 p.m. The last three meetings of the semester will be held in Hilary’s. The next one will be Oct. 30.
Each SGA meeting begins with reports from the executive board and committee leaders. Here are the notable reports:
President Amanda Martin gave the president’s report. She said the SGA retreat the previous week was excellent and assembly members appreciated it lasting two days.
Martin solicited volunteers for the Ball on the Belle Halloween dance. She updated the SGA members on a bill passed Sept. 26 for the purchase of 500 gloves with the SGA logo. Martin said the order for the gloves has been placed and the gloves will be handed out to students in January.
Vice President Dulce Solorio gave the Community Service report. She reminded the assembly of the IgKnight Conference on Nov. 7 and the Bellarmine University Dance Marathon on Nov. 13.
Vice President Jess Winters gave the educational affairs report. She updated the assembly on University Educational Affairs (UEA). She announced minor prerequisite changes for political science and art administration majors.
Vice President Tom Finch gave the finance report. He gave the monthly statement, which detailed the one student government initiative and two student government contingency funded bills passed between Aug. 20 and Aug 31.
Vice President Jacob Schuhmann gave the public relations report. He said his committee had its first meeting and reminded the assembly members to follow the SGA’s profiles on social media. He said the committee is in need of skilled photographers.
Vice President Aliya Thompson gave the recreation, intramurals and athletics report. She said the National Eating Disorder Association’s walk would be held on Oct. 17 in the quad. She also said her committee had purchased haunted house tickets for Industrial Nightmare in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to be given out to 20 students in the SuRF Center.
Vice President Amber Fields gave the resident student organization (RSO) report. She announced an event called Thankful Chrismahanakwanzika which will occur sometime in late November. She recognized club rugby as the RSO of the month.
Bryce Chalfant gave the election and surveys report. He said his committee will gather approval ratings for the committee itself, the executive board and the assembly as a whole.
Ellie DeVries gave the mission identity report. She said the Bellarmine University mission statement will be broadcast on the digital monitors around campus along with an explanation so that students will be able to understand it better. She announced an illuminaria event for the spring semester, which will have a New Year’s resolution theme, a community building activity with the resident assistants and peer ministers and a Thomas Merton theme for a basketball game next semester.
Austin Black gave the food services report. He said his committee is working on public relations efforts for Sodexo surveys. He proposed a separate register for non-specialty coffee drinks in Café Ogle. He also said the University Dining Hall (UDH) will be having a meatless Monday sometime in November to raise awareness of the homeless community.
Matt Higgs gave the traffic and safety report. He said a demo for the Drive Safe app would be ready for a later SGA meeting.
Trevor Stantliff gave the environmental report. He proposed an initiative called Green Convene in which environmental RSOs meet to brainstorm solutions. He said the ultimate goal for the year is to collect rainwater to water the grounds, “so all of that water doesn’t go to waste.”
Martin recognized Stantliff for his achievements despite only having two weeks in office.
“I really want to say how proud I am of you all for your reports in this meeting,” Martin said.
She also said this SGA is the most active group she has seen in her time at Bellarmine.
Claudia Bejarano was inducted as a new Freshman Representative.
Jane Hoerter was inducted as a new Graduate Representative.
Here are the bills presented at the meeting:
Senior Representative Lexi Duck and Non-Traditional Representative Lucio Gonzalez presented a bill to approve the Bellarmine Bass Fishing Team as an RSO. The bill passed, and the Bellarmine Bass Fishing Team is now an official RSO on campus.
Vice President of Finance Tom Finch presented a bill to send eight psychology students to a conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Oct 23-24. The bill passed and $1,918.45 will be taken from the SGA General Account to fund the trip.
Vice President of Recreation, Intramurals and Athletics Aliya Thompson and Junior Representative Aaron Patterson presented a bill to pay for field rentals for the club lacrosse team at the Mockingbird indoor facilities. The bill passed, and $900 will be taken from the SGA General Account and transferred to the Club Lacrosse Account.
Senior Representative Lexi Duck presented a bill to approve Bellarmine University Kayaking Knights as an RSO. The bill passed, and Bellarmine University Kayaking Knights is now an official RSO on campus.
Senior Representative Jacob Hoerter presented a bill to rent the documentary (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies for screening to Bellarmine students. The bill passed, and $50.99 will be allocated from account 512479 to rent and screen the documentary.
Freshman Representative Leah Mudd presented a bill to hire an outside electrician to help with equipment for Night of Worship. The bill passed, and $150 will be allocated from the SGA general account to fund the electrician.
During open discussion, the assembly brought up three main topics:
– It is time to pick a new Quality Enhancement Plan, and the student affairs administration has asked for input from the SGA. Possible choices are career development, mindfulness and sustainability.
– The SGA will set up a table in outside the UDH once a month where two or three members of the assembly can get ideas from the student body and educate on the workings of the assembly.
– The SGA is considering bringing laptops into its meetings to cut down on the amount of paper used when printing bills and other materials.