St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan answered questions, two new clubs were approved and seven funded at the Nov. 7 Undergraduate Student Government general council meeting.

USG invited Sullivan to answer any questions council members may have. USG President Logan Monahan gave an introduction and spoke about the founding of the Morrison Family College Of Health.

“I think the email did a great job of getting everybody thinking about the new college, but I also think there’s a lot of questions,” Monahan said.

Sullivan commented on the existing state of America’s healthcare system, citing the new college as an opportunity to create change.

“Clearly the healthcare system in the United States is too costly, it’s too fragmented, some people can’t get access and it sometimes perpetuates sickness rather than wellness,” Sullivan said. “We have the opportunity without a legacy of a college to create something that looks to the future and can invest in the systemic challenges in our healthcare system.”

The new college was the main focus of the discussion. The impact of the enrollment of students, as well as the concern of Catholic social thought being taught in curriculum were things Sullivan spoke about.

Sullivan gave a tentative enrollment year of 2021 as the first founding class. She said that is “ambitious” but 2022 is “realistic.”

“We’re going to keep trying for ambitious,” Sullivan said.

Executive board members of Mixed-Race Coalition and National Society of Black Engineers both presented as new clubs to get approval from USG. The council voted and approved both clubs.

Internal requests were $11,332 for five clubs. Dance Club received $1,548.50, Gamma Iota Sigma received $1,386, TommieStrength received $4,830, Bridge St. Thomas received $2,047.50 and African Nations Student Association received $1,520.

There were no event requests this week. Conference requests approved were $250 to Student Veterans of America to attend their national conference, and $195.90 to TommieStrength to attend Land of 10,000 Plates.

Bylaws for club debt were passed, which created a club debt committee that would meet when there are clubs dealing with debt issues. The bylaws give formal procedures to the committee when clubs incur debt.

Next general council meeting on Nov. 21 will host Phil Esten, athletic director, as a guest to answer questions about St. Thomas’s possible Division 1 move.

Abby Sliva can be reached at sliv7912@stthomas.edu.