Student Government President Patrick Kelly discussed increasing allotments to student activities in his “State of SG address” during the first meeting of the 9th Undergraduate Senate on Nov. 10.
Kelly stated in his speech that ensuring students can afford AU, divesting from fossil fuels and reviewing the Student Activity fee are his main goals for the year.
Kelly also said SG’s Kennedy Political Union, Student Union Board and Founders’ Day should receive the most money in the budget since they benefit the most students.
“I call upon this Undergraduate Senate to look at our budget and look at our values…and allocate the largest amount of money in our budgets to these three student programming entities,” he said.
SUB Director Noah Gray, a senior in the School of Public Affairs and School of Communication, and KPU Director Chandler Thornton, a junior in SPA and SOC, also spoke about increasing funds to student organizations during the meeting.
“We don’t have a football team…we need to find school spirit in other ways,” Thornton said. “Programming is one of those ways.”
Gray agreed, saying SG did not have an inflated budget.
“Let’s not read these editorials that make SG the problem. Let’s make SG the solution,” Gray said in reference to an editorial published in The Eagle in October.
Senator Kevin Levy was also elected as the new speaker of the Senate and five new senators were sworn in during the meeting. Levy won by a 12-10 vote over Alex Bradley.
sntahobari@theeagleonline.com
