Vice President of Student Affairs Karen Lange spoke, USG voted in special elections and two new clubs were approved at the Undergraduate Student Government general council meeting Thursday, Oct. 29.
Guest speaker: Karen Lange
Lange spoke about her role at the university regarding COVID-19 regulations. Last week, the university reported 17 positive cases.
“We’re really happy with how things are going,” Lange said.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Josh Schauer asked how the university is preparing to change policy if COVID-19 cases rise. Lange responded by emphasizing that university officials value student input when making decisions.
“We want to hear from you about anything that needs to change overall with the plan,” Lange said. “We’ll take it into consideration.”
Lange also encouraged infected students to be honest with contact tracers.
“No one’s going to get in trouble,” Lange said. “This is about your health.”
Special elections
USG listened to presentations from special elections candidates before deciding the outcome over a Zoom poll.
“I’m eager and I have the drive to work hard and make our community a safe and welcoming environment,” diversity relations chair candidate Jada Winston said in her presentation.
USG voted Jada Winston as Diversity Relations chair, Katie McGinnis as Sophomore class Senator, Jennifer O’Keefe as Spirituality chair, Sean Kerns and Freshman Residential Senator, Brandon Dash as commuter senator and Russell Bergstrom as Mac-Groveland Neighborhood Senator.
New club approval
Junior Caleb Limesand presented a proposal to USG asking it to approve a pre-physical therapy club. This club will act as a resource for pre-physical therapy students to learn about graduate school applications, find relevant volunteer opportunities and hear from professionals within the field.
“We’ll take away the stresses of getting into graduate school to make sure that they (students) have the best opportunity to get in,” Limesand said.
Ellen Parkey presented a proposal asking USG to approve Omega Ti, a club for female athletes on campus. This club will provide an empowering environment for female athletes with a focus on holistic health and wellness.
“This is just to get a really big group of women coming in and talking about their health and fitness goals,” Parkey said.
International Students Representative Rabz Sheikh opposed the approval of both clubs after expressing concern about Omega Ti excluding non-binary people and Pre-PT club being too similar to exercise science club.
USG approved both clubs following discussion.
Club funding
Club sports director Kevin Manson asked USG to add $15,000 to the $25,000 normally allocated to fund club sports.
Approximately 200 more students have participated in club sports this fall while varsity sports competition continues its delay, according to Manson.
“We’d like to keep as many students involved in club sports as possible for this year and serve as a great outlet for students to be a part of something active,” Manson said.
This funding increase was improved along with a $1,520 budget for campus outreach, a $3,260 budget for CRU, a $263 budget for badminton club, and a $1,596 budget for the collegiate entrepreneurs organization.
Annie Terry can be reached at terr2351@stthomas.edu.