New president, vice president candidates announced at SGA

Ally Feiner and Katie Brust announced their candidacy running for SGA president and vice president at this week’s SGA meeting.

“We’re really looking forward to getting started on this campaign season and we can’t wait to talk to students about how we can make USD a better environment,” Feiner said. 

Jacob Carsten, a USD law student, was a guest speaker coming to do outreach. The law school is leading a tax clinic that helps and represents people in need. 

“Our main goal is to help serve people who have any tax dilemmas with the IRS,” Carsten said.

Senator Armand Khan reported on the Athletic Board of Control. Khan said all sports are currently in session and ground will be broken for a new pool within the next year.

“There is still a two million dollar gap in fundraising that is still needed,” Khan said. 

Academic progress rate reports came back regarding athletes and all teams passed with good GPA’s. 

The athletic department is funding separate testing out of their own budget. Athletes in contact sports will get tested three times a week.

Schedules for sports are currently out but some cancellations have happened and are to be expected.

“Everybody’s trying their best to have the competitions we can have and have a good season,” Khan said. 

The Sociology Club asked for an increased budget in order to fund two guest speakers within the new Senate Bill 67. The speakers would cover The Innocence Project, a group working to exonerate individuals wrongly convicted and to reform the criminal justice system. The group requested $2000.

SGA President Abuk Jiel discussed the new election steering committee appointments. The steering committee oversees the election process and makes sure candidates adhere to SGA’s governing documents.

“When putting this committee together, I wanted to make sure there was a good mix of senators with experience in the senate as well as individuals that aren’t as connected to SGA,” Jiel said. “This is a group of people making sure the election is as fair and transparent as possible.” 

Senator Caitlin Kroemer and President Jiel are working on a weekly event, Wellness Wednesday, for students to participate in forms of self care. On Jan. 27th at 11am resources for counseling center, online forms of therapy and skin care face masks will be handed out in the MUC. 

“SGA Wellness Wednesday came about when senators themselves and students talked about how important mental health is,” Jiel said.