Under the leadership of president Brett Rocheleau, vice president Katie Rose and chief of staff Katie Baker, this year's student government has worked vigorously to accomplish five specific goals for the University by collaborating with on- and off-campus organizations.
Baker outlined these goals on behalf of the group and discussed its accomplishments and current projects in progress.
In order to increase the safety of all students and modernize the University, Baker said members of student government have collaborated with the Call to Action Movement, the 4 to 5 Movement, Core Council and the Office of Student Affairs.
"[Student government] partnered with the Call to Action Movement to advocate for improved resources for historically underrepresented students, deepen the University's commitment to diversity and implement a one-stop shop for reporting of discriminatory harassment," Baker said.
The administration also aims to deepen the relationship between students and residents of South Bend through collaboration with campus and local leaders, Baker said.
"Hosting a Community Summit in Downtown South Bend [brought] together city and University leaders in an effort to deepen relationships between local colleges and universities and the South Bend community," she said.
To accomplish the goal of globalizing the University, Baker said student government has worked with the Career Center and various on-campus institutions to centralize resources regarding international summer and post-graduate opportunities for students.
Although the administration has kept busy working to make progress toward achieving these goals during the first half of the semester, Baker said additional projects and initiatives are slated for the rest of the year.
Such initiatives include launching a website to centralize all service opportunities for students, creating an eND Hunger booklet to aid people in the South Bend community who use food stamps to make healthy eating, working with the Office of Auxiliary Operations to implement Domer Dollars at off-campus retailers and working with the community to improve visibility of crosswalks to off-campus destinations.
In response to these concerns, Off-Campus Council president Katie Kehl said the organization will host a "Know Your Rights" question-and-answer session Monday at 4 p.m. in the Montgomery Auditorium of the LaFortune Student Center.
"While geared towards off-campus students, everyone is welcome to hear Brooks Grainger, a lawyer from Krisor & Associates, speak of student off-campus rights," Kehl said.
Students can email any questions they would like answered at the forum to OCC@nd.edu.
Contact Maddie Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu
