The St. Thomas Undergraduate Student Government swore in a new member, approved a new club, and approved funding for eight clubs at its Feb. 22 general council meeting.

Junior Joe LaCroix was sworn in as the new veteran representative to USG. LaCroix spent nine years in the Army and is now studying at St. Thomas to finish his associate’s degree in criminology and possibly pursue a bachelor’s in criminal justice.

Juniors Sunita and Anita Dharod proposed to form a new Food Justice club that focuses on personal health, food access in the community, how food affects the environment and animal rights. The club was approved unanimously.

In internal club funding requests, USG approved $2,352 for Lead club, $2,824.50 for ASIA, $450 for Bridge St. Thomas, $1,200 for Tommie Strength, $5,160 for St. Paul Outreach, and $2,478 for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

In campus-wide requests, $700 was approved for BESA’s black history month discussion. For conference and competition requests, the Engineers for a Sustainable World will receive $1,500 to attend their national conference.

A request from the senior class council for $25,000 to help fund the graduation committee was tabled until the next general council meeting. The graduation committee is $70,000 short after the proposed $50 graduation fee for seniors was waived.

Solveig Rennan can be reached at renn6664@stthomas.edu