By Patrick Brady
SGA approved Outing Club’s request to fund semi-weekly trips to the Central Rock Climbing Gym in Framingham during their Nov. 2 meeting.
Andrew Doig, president of Outing Club, and Ali Raza, the group’s treasurer, attended the meeting to request funding for the trip.
Raza explained the club needed $2,160 to pay for day passes to the rock climbing gym every Tuesday and Friday. He said they “negotiated” the tickets down to $15 per person daily.
Senator Raffi Elkhoury asked whether the $15 day passes were distributed among the students who show up for the event.
Raza said, “Right now, we have about six regular members. So, if they come two times a week, that’ll be $30 a week.
“Then, we ... [account] for two extra people who end up wanting to come later on in the semester,” he added. “So, that all comes up to $2,160. ... Anybody [who] decides not to show up or if we get fewer people one week ... it’s going to be returned.”
Elkhoury asked if the club was looking into any “long-term passes.”
He said he knew a lot of rock climbing gyms had 30 passes at a discounted price, which could be distributed effectively among students, as opposed to paying for each “individual day.”
Doig said “down the road,” the club may be able to maintain memberships. Day passes were the most “straightforward way” to get the funds distributed.
He said alternate funding pathways would be a “great conversation” for the 2022-23 Yscal year.
The request was approved by all SGA members.
President McKenzie Ward discussed the lack of gender-inclusive bathrooms at the University. She said she has been in conversation with Patricia Whitney, assistant vice president of Facilities and Capital Planning, and Meg Nowak Borrego, dean of students.
Ward said Whitney recommended a proposal submission, which would be reviewed in January.
She added the state is making it difficult to make gender-inclusive bathrooms. “It’s not as easy as just changing the signage.”
Ward said she was scheduled to meet with Lorretta Holloway, vice president of Enrollment and Student Development, on Nov. 3 to discuss the presidential search committee’s schedule for bringing finalists to campus.
During the student advisory council update, Mark Haskell said Commissioner Carlos Santiago answered “various questions about funding and programming,” and Student Advisory Council’s next meeting is Nov. 19.
Vice President Emma Sullivan said the next Student Affairs Committee meeting is Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
She said, “We’re going to work on maybe addressing some concerns that weren’t properly met at Admin. Forum and start doing constitution and bylaws.”
Emily Rosenberg, outreach and events coordinator, said she sent out a sign-up sheet for the Week of Kindness table.
The Week of Kindness consists of events intended to spread kindness and strengthen the FSU community.
Dara Barros, diversity and inclusion officer, wasn’t able to attend the meeting, so Ward presented her report.
Ward said Barros had updated her on the presidential search committee. “They met in executive session for about four hours to discuss the different candidates and created a list of ‘semi-finalists’ to be interviewed in about two weeks.”
She said all the candidates would be interviewed over a “two-day period.”
Ward said the candidates will visit campus during the first two or three weeks of December. “Once I figure [their arrival dates] out, I will send out a list for everyone to sign up and also promote it to other [organizations].”
Student Trustee Hillary Nna said the Safety Walk is Nov. 8. The event consists of students and
administrators assessing the campus grounds for areas of concern.
Ward said, “If you can go, please go. We need as much student representation as we can get.
“And if you can’t go and you have specific concerns on campus ... we will relay those to the University administrators, so that your voice can also be heard, even if you’re not there physically,” she added.
SGA Advisor Sara Gallegos decided not to give an advisor’s report.
Ward received the award of eBoard member of the month.
Elkhoury was declared the Senator of the Month and was also awarded this week’s “U-Rock.”
The “U-Rock” is presented to recognize a Senator’s accomplishments over the two weeks between meetings.
[Editor’s note: McKenzie Ward is Opinions Editor for The Gatepost. Emily Rosenberg is an Arts & Features Editor for The Gatepost]