Each year, the student body president gathers students and faculty together to report on all major events and policies enacted by student government during their stint in office.
This year, the State of the Student Body Address was delivered not by the student body president alone, but by her entire cabinet.
In an effort to encourage unity and inclusion, Student Body President Lindsey Richardson elected to have each cabinet member share the work that they have done this semester, saying these were “the real people who should get the credit for these great things.”
Before she passed the baton to her “real workers on the ground,” Richardson gave an overview of how Student Government has strived to achieve its four pillars this semester, including fostering spirit, encouraging diversity and inclusion, advocating and serving needs and to encourage leadership.
Student Government held the first pep rallies of the semester on campus, created Ameripalooza, adopted a safety app called RaveGuardian and created a student leadership pin (an award that will be granted next semester), among other things.
Trey Byars, Secretary of State Affairs, said his primary goal this term was “to get students involved in government,” and that the best way to do so was “to bring government to them.” This semester, the Legislative Advisory Board expanded in order to create an “informed, active electorate for this university,” according to Byars.
Allie Conner, Secretary of Dining, introduced her meal swipe donation program in her address, which she modeled after a program at the University of Alabama. This service will allow students with unused swipes to donate their extra meals to Gamecock Pantry.
The Gamecock Pantry also reported they have not had to accept any donations from Harvest Hope Food Bank because, thanks to donations, they are self-sufficient. However, they are not operating at capacity and only provided meals to 71 students in October.
The creation of office hours for comptrollers is the banner achievement from the Student Treasury, under the direction of Ryan Harman. There are now seven comptrollers in the office Monday through Thursday, working on funding allocations for student organizations, so that the organizations can spend more, according to Harman. Student organizations have $90,000 left to spend before April.
Student Body Vice President Donnie Iorio touted the forthcoming Syllabus Archive, which will document syllabi across all colleges at the university online. This project has been discussed at student senate meetings for the past several months.
Sustainability programming, under the direction of Jessica Parker, Secretary of Environmental Affairs, will introduce a new tailgate recycling program. According to Parker, students will be able to earn free football tickets after a few hours of handing out recycling bags to people tailgating.
Jon McClary, the Secretary of Multicultural Affairs, announced that the university has adopted gender into its discrimination protection policy this year. The student multicultural affairs commission has plans to create a Hispanic alumni society which they hope to have opened by the end of next semester, he said.
Camila Villacreses, Secretary of Safety and Transportation, detailed the new garnet route offered by the Comet bus which will run on Marion, Harden, Rosewood and Garners Ferry. The company, in partnership with the university, offers a Freshman Freedom Pass which allows all university freshman to ride for free (upon the presentation of their student ID). Villacreses said the upperclassmen’s fee will decrease by $10 every month.
Richardson closed the address out with a promise of “a transparent relationship” between Student Government and the student body.
“There are still problems to solve and challenges to face,” she said.