Student Government launches website, hears persistent dining hall concerns – The Cauldron
The Cleveland State Student Government Association announced the official launch of its website at its latest senate meeting on Friday, Feb. 23, accompanied by public policy updates, recurring student concerns about the dining hall and more.
A proposed resolution to adopt a brand guide for SGA was largely rejected by the senate, among other items.
SGA Website
The new SGA website is up and running for students to visit at csusga.com. Photo Credit: SGA
Director of Marketing and Technologies Anastasia Hunt shared that SGA’s website is complete and available to access at csusga.com. She highlighted the following SGA members for their work: Secretary Esther Adejumo, the new Director of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Hassan Shah, College of Health Senator Jayden Jackson, and College of Business Senator Andrew Sobhy.
“There was a lot of time and effort poured into this project, so thank you from the bottom of my heart,” shared Hunt during the meeting.
President Update
During her update, SGA President Kayland Morris shared that menstrual products will soon be installed in the Student Center bathrooms.
The hygiene drive currently underway has been extended until April 1. Anyone who donates food or hygienic necessities to the box in the SGA office will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win AirPods.
SGA conducted a survey regarding textbooks, the results of which Morris will present before the faculty senate at its meeting this week, which will take place at 3 p.m. in the Student Center, open to all. She will also bring up concerns regarding Follet as CSU’s textbook provider.
Director of Governmental Relations Update
Director of Governmental Relations Jackson Kidwell addressed the recent work of the Public Policy Committee, specifically focusing on the passage of a resolution that counters Ohio House Bill 283.
H.B. 283, introduced by Republican House Representatives Beth Lear and Adam Bird, seeks to require schools and higher education facilities to mandate that students use the restrooms aligned with their “biological sex,” that is, “the condition of being either female or male.”
The highly contentious bill also prohibits educational facilities from allowing students to share overnight accommodations—dormitories and such—with students of the opposite “biological sex,” with exceptions for an adult accompanying children under 10 and someone assisting a disabled person.
The committee’s resolution calls to protect gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.
Director of Student Affairs
In his director update, Samsa shared that his committee has formed three subcommittees in relation to student engagement, housing and dining with hopes to consolidate and better address concerns about those respective matters.
The Student Government Association meeting for its usual biweekly senate meeting on Friday, Feb. 23. Photo Credit: Jaden Stambolia
The Edge Senator
Senator for The Edge Joseph Nappi shared that he is looking into collaborating with other people to host an event or series of events that inform students on this year’s upcoming elections. He hopes to invite guest speakers to discuss the issues projected to be on the November general election ballot: referendums on the state minimum wage and redistricting.
“If anyone has been aware of the current state of districts and how they’ve been drawn in the state, it’s not great and it does significantly disadvantage students [in Cuyahoga and other counties].”
Early voting for the 2024 United States presidential election has started at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Nappi reminded student voters to be aware of photo identification laws in the state that changed last spring.
Honors College Senator
Mandel Honors College Senator Jack Whitman shared that he, Kidwell and Morris met with the Division of Hospitality to discuss several housing issues, including recent package theft, lack of dining options and the possibility of having a centralized recording system for the housing department so that incidents are more easily communicated.
“Hospitality is really one of the best divisions on this campus for listening to students, and it’s important that we use our ability to connect with them in order to get stuff done,” shared Whitman.
Whitman also introduced a resolution that sought to adopt a brand guide to serve as a non-binding starting point that would allow SGA to develop a “unified” brand over time. The resolution failed to pass with mostly “nays,” one “yae” from Whitman and two abstentions from Sobhy and Shah.
Student Concerns
Student concerns almost exclusively involved dining.
Student Victoria Fields, with others echoing similar sentiment, shared that on snow days, days off or weekends, the innerlink is often inaccessible even with student ID, preventing students from making their way to the dining hall. Also an issue on these particular days is instances of food poisoning due to food not being cooked all the way.
There are also days where the dining hall is cleaned and closes up to an hour early. Viking dining hours were also brought up.
Speaker of the Senate Abigail Habeggar mentioned a decrease in the availability of lean meat in the dining hall throughout the whole week that has been a concern for student athletes specifically.
Whitman added that there is a QR code on the napkin holders in the dining hall that, when scanned, brings up a survey through which students can outline their dining hall-related concerns.
The next senate meeting of SGA will take place at the usual time and place of 3:40 p.m. in BH 201 on Monday, March 8.