While the sun shone and the wind blew outside, the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress (HUSC) General Assembly meeting commenced. As students, faculty and staff got settled, Internal President Abi Grace Mart began the meeting.
The updates from the executive board remained minimal, with Economic Affairs Committee (EAC) chair Ella Ettlin reminding board members that the student organizations budget will be voted on Friday, Apr. 12. External President Travis Matthews detailed a meeting he had with students regarding composting bins in the residence halls. These bins would be optional, so the proper resources will be given to students who wish to use them. Mart also reminded members of the passing of the gavel, a ceremony on Apr. 23 in which the external and internal presidents pass on their roles to the new presidents, Elisa Lopez and Oliver Engstrom.
Administrative reports followed, with Dean of Students Patti Klein-Kersten announcing that the request for proposal (RFP) committee will soon be scheduling in-person interviews for potential food services vendors. Klein-Kersten also shared with members that following the CDC’s release of new COVID-19 guidelines, the university will be updating the guidelines it currently has in place. These updates — which will be implemented beginning Fall 2024 — will be announced towards the end of the year.
First-year representatives Anna Beaudry and Anabel Bradley announced the Meet Your Reps event taking place on Thursday during convo hour. This event serves to allow constituents to meet the individuals representing them at HUSC.
New business included a resolution that sets aside $10,000 in the HUSC budget as a way to support the Food Resource Center (FRC) as Feed Your Brain (FYB) — an organization dedicated to the advocacy for affordable, accessible, fresh and healthy food for students — members push to institutionalize the FRC. Institutionalizing the FRC would result in a fee for students to be paid alongside tuition and other fees. The cost is undetermined at this time, but will provide stable support for the FRC. Mart reminded members that the fee is not an end-all-be-all. That is to say, the efficacy of this fee can be renegotiated at a later date. An additional resolution was proposed regarding the emergency grant — a grant used to help students who are struggling financially pay their bills. The resolution did not meet the quorum requirement in order to be voted on.
The 2024-2025 budget for HUSC was presented by new presidents Elisa Lopez and Oliver Engstrom and reflected the proposed costs for HUSC’s support towards the FRC. The budget passed.
After new business was attended to, members gathered food as the meeting came to a close.
To learn more about HUSC, visit hamline.husc.edu or attend a general assembly on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in GLC 100E.