At the first in-person meeting of the spring semester, the Undergraduate Student Government took a moment to reflect on the death of Amir Locke; President Adam Revoir suggested USG show support by reaching out to multicultural councils and clubs, while another student pointed out that police officers and first responders are affected by these events as well.
Guest speaker Wendy Wyatt, the vice provost for academic affairs, addressed COVID-19 protocol updates, sustainability initiatives and the Solidarity Statements project, and USG discussed its 2022 spring budget, club financing requests, and an upcoming special election.
Reflection on the death of Amir Locke
A segment of the general council meeting was allotted to remembering and reflecting on the death of Amir Locke.
Revoir began the discussion stating that the executive board believes that USG should focus more on action.
“We’ve also decided, as the board, … to really be maybe shying away from creating and drafting formal statements and really kind of being more tactful about some actions that USG, as well as the executive board, can do,” Revoir said.
When Revoir opened the floor to comments, first-year class president Jake Manske called on USG to also recognize the trauma these events can have on police officers and first responders.
“I think it would just be also important to just keep in mind that we have people in our communities that are doing the best they can to protect us,” Manske said.
Senior Class Senator Jordan Hurley, Vice President of Student Affairs Rosie Salem and Vice President of Student Engagement Kailey Corder each responded to Manske’s statement. While they agreed first responders should be acknowledged, they felt that the primary focus should be on Locke’s death.
“If you are not from the communities who are directly impacted, I think that you really need to check some privileges that you may have, and some agency that you also have, to ensure that we are not, once again, silencing these individuals who are affected,” Salem said.
Guest speaker: Wendy Wyatt
Wyatt, discussed revisions to the face-covering policy in the Anderson Athletics and Recreation Complex, which allow for masks to be removed when actively working out.
Wyatt said the university followed the lead of local health facilities in making this decision.
“We’ve worked with our team at the AARC and we’re recognizing that… working out is really important for everybody’s mental health,” Wyatt said. “It’s hard to be on a treadmill or a stair-climber while you’re wearing the mask.”
As for campus-wide protocols, Wyatt reminded the council that the university must abide by the city ordinance requiring face coverings, which St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter extended earlier this week.
Overall, however, Wyatt said she believes that the pandemic is entering into a new period.
“I really do think that we’re starting to move into a new stage and that we will have an easier time sort of managing this,” Wyatt said. “The fact that we’re able to join together and be in community… makes me really excited.”
Wyatt also noted that the Office of Sustainability Initiatives is now a part of the Office of Academic Affairs.
“We’re really happy to think about the different ways that we can collaborate with them on sustainability issues on campus,” Wyatt said.
The Office of Academic Affairs has also established the Solidarity Statements project, where faculty and academic staff at St. Thomas can post personal statements that demonstrate a commitment to supporting all students and to helping build a more equitable and inclusive campus.
According to Wyatt, the project began as “an effort to show support for students from maybe underrepresented backgrounds or strictly marginalized backgrounds,” but also to show that faculty are invested in “every single (student).” .
2022 spring budget and initial club financing requests
Vice President of Financial Affairs Angelica Franaschouk gave a finance update and shared the USG 2022 spring budget.
“For the budget for this semester, we’ve had to carry over $320,000,” Franaschouk said, and they have “requested that $100,000 of the student activity fee be allocated to student government.”
After setting funds aside for special initiatives, that leaves $303,000 in the USG budget for this semester.
Changes have been made to the club auditing process, and clubs will now receive funding based on an estimated budget that outlines the events and activities they are planning for the semester rather than on the number of club members involved.
“We changed the process based on the audits and feedback,” Cahill said, “so, rather than just saying ‘this is how many members we have,’ they actually have to put together a budget.”
The Finance Committee also decided that there are no campus-wide events to push forward, and there have been no requests for club competitions or conferences.
Special elections
USG will be holding special elections next week for two executive board positions and two general council positions.
The open executive board positions are Vice President of Administrative Affairs and Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the open general council positions are Senior Class Senator and Intercultural Affairs Representative.
Voting will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 22 through Wednesday, Feb 23.
Editor’s note: Angelica Franaschouk is a member of TommieMedia.
Lauren Price can be reached at lauren.price@stthomas.edu.