Slippery Rock Student Government (SRSGA) addressed the student body’s continued concern with food quality on campus at its formal meeting Monday.
“Patience is the word I’ll use,” Vice President of Academic Affairs Grant Warmbein said during his committee report. “Please be patient.”
He also stated that along with himself and College of Education Senator Gabe Stiles are meeting with the general manager of Aramark, SRU’s new food vendor, to directly bring up the issues that have been brought to them.
Jerome Drew, a freshman computer science major and candidate for president of house council in Building E, spoke during the open forum about his experience with the new dining service. He said that at breakfast on Sept. 26 around 9:15 a.m., there was a bee, as well as fruit flies, in the donut case in Boozel Dining Hall.
“While I understand that we need to have patience with the food that’s being served at Boozel, I don’t believe there is time for a lack of food safety,” Drew said. “I believe that this needs to be addressed immediately.”
Warmbein quickly sent an email to Christopher Cole, SRU’s director of auxiliary operations and student services, with who he has previously been in contact for issues such as this to keep a record of such instances.
Drew also talked about the continued struggle with parking between commuter students and residents. Living in Building E, he mentioned how he has previously had to park in the East Lake parking lot and walk from there to his dorm due to commuters filling all spots closest to the residence halls.
“There would be plenty of parking for commuters at East Lake if we were to move residential parking into where commuter parking is right now at the bottom of the buildings,” Drew said.
SRSGA advisor Wendy Leitera praised Drew as being the first to present the issue of parking along with a solution as to how it can be mended.
Newly-elected senators were later sworn in by President Mia Graziani. Madison Fitzgerald, residence hall senator; Jenessa Hayward, freshman senator; and Carly Roberts and Emma Kennedy, at large senators, all took their oaths and took their seats amongst the Senate.
The meeting proceeded smoothly into the new business of voting upon initiative requests.
The athletic department presented a request for $13,740, which passed, to be used on a new washing machine for sports teams and clubs, who had previously had to outsource their laundry.
The gymnastics club also requested $30 for a facility rental, which passed. The previous expense was approved by the Senate for a facility rental but was short in the amount needed to pay the vendor.
The motion that caused the most concern amongst the senate was for a request of $2,133.39 by the men’s rugby club team. About $1,500 would be used to cover the cost of EMS services for their games to ensure the safety of players and about $600 used towards the purchase of new equipment.
The club had previously been under investigation for hazing back in the fall of 2018 and into 2019, which was brought up during debate and discussion by Warmbein.
Warmbein’s concern was with individuals involved in the conduct investigation that are still associated with the team. He asked if the team were to receive the money, would the club still be an organization after the investigation is concluded, and would SRSGA ultimately lose all that money.
The Men’s Rugby investigation was closed two years ago by the university in April 2019. According to the Hazing Report available on SRU’s website, Student Conduct “did not determine evidence to support these hazing allegations.”
Vice President of Finance Sydney Rezzetano responded that the finance committee was mainly concerned with whether or not the team had been fundraising on their own, outside of just requesting this amount from SRSGA. According to Rezzetano, the team was recognized as being number one in SRU’s Giving Day, which is an annual fundraiser whose mission is to support SRU students.
“We felt that they were deserving,” Rezzetano said, about the team’s request.
The motion was passed, with Warmbein, At-Large Senator Izzy Caruso, and College of Liberal Arts Senator Makenzie Shiller abstaining. Vice President of Outreach Aiden Donnelly, Senator Stiles and Vice President of Internal Affairs Liz Hood opposed.
College of Education Senator Rebekah Froehlich was named as the new co-chair of rules and policies. She will be working alongside Parliamentarian Nicholas Condon. Condon is not a voting member of SGA, so they said it was only fitting that someone else who was a voting member be the one to give the committee reports.
SRSGA also moved to recognize “Magic the Gathering at the Rock” as a student organization. The club is centered around the trading card game, Magic the Gathering. It also recognized club softball at SRU as a student organization.
SRSGA will hold its next formal meeting in the Smith Student Center Theater on Oct. 18 at 5 p.m.
