SGA discusses athletics, intellectual diversity and building upgrades

Athletic Director David Herbster and Mike West, Deputy Athletics Director, spoke at Tuesday’s Student Government Meeting (SGA) to give an update on athletics following USD’s home football game.

Kelsey Berger, SGA senator, asked them about a story posted by the marketing department, which stated that no student would be turned away for the football game. The story was later deleted.

“It was raining. We were concerned that people would be in their dorms… I took a little bit of a risk, by saying that we’re not going to turn anyone away,”  West said. “I got lucky and we didn’t have to turn anyone away. We let every student in. That was not intended to be deleted.”

West doesn’t know why it was deleted, he said. Herbster acknowledged that the move was bold, but athletics wanted to motivate students to come to the game, regardless of the rain.

“The point really was, we wanted to make sure we got everybody out of the dorms and into the game,” Herbster said. “Mike rolled the dice.”

West said student feedback is welcomed by athletics and he encourages students to come to the office or contact athletics if they have any concerns.

Herbster expressed interest in attending SGA meetings more often to keep student government updated with what’s going on in athletics.

Carson Zubke, SGA President, said Herbster and himself discussed over the summer about the possibility of monthly meetings together.

“He’s very passionate about making sure that students have their voices heard. He wants to make sure students know that they are very intentional about making sure that the events are catered to students,” Zubke said.

A forum about intellectual diversity was held on campus last Friday. The forum was attended by administration members, but Zubke plans for a forum specifically geared for students.

“We’re looking to, in some ways, mirror what the administration did with that, but for students, really focus it toward students so they can come in and ask us any questions,” Zubke said.

His current plan is a one-time panel consisting of SGA members, administration and hopefully SDBOR representatives, he said.

“This forum would essentially just be an opportunity for us to help get people involved in that conversation and caught up with what’s been happening,” Zubke said.

SGA also discussed the pending approval for updates on the Health and Sciences building.

Zubke said this would be “huge” for the economic development of South Dakota.

“Healthcare, and especially health sciences is a very rapidly growing field and our health sciences buildings are spread between five different locations in Vermillion and Sioux Falls,” Zubke said.