By: Ava C. Green, Editor-in-Chief and Jon Dusza, Managing Editor
The Undergraduate Student Association (USA) met for the final time in its history last Friday, April 11, 2024. The last session of this year’s senate, which was gaveled in at 2:37 p.m., was a lighter crowd than usual, with many senators out of town on a school leadership retreat.
After President Jahare Hudson serenaded the room with his singing in his last senate meeting as president, he put forth a USA resolution to praise and thank Fatima Rodriguez Johnson and Bennie D. Williams for the anti-racism training they put together for USA, as well as the rest of the Canisius campus. Hudson highlighted how USA was the first group to take part in the anti-racism training and expressed his hope that the training will be given to different student organizations on campus. The resolution passed unanimously.
Next, President Hudson gave his final report, during which he thanked the USA for their kindness towards him over the course of the last three years and expressed his optimism for the future of USA. He then talked about how this was the last meeting ever of the Undergraduate Student Association, which will become the United Student Association this coming year. The main difference between the Undergraduate and United Student Association is that graduate students can be a part of the United Student Association.
After that, Vice President of Business and Finance (VPBF) Anthony Tripi, also in his last senate meeting as VPBF, presented three large appeals which needed senate approval. Before presenting the appeals, Tripi warned the senate that the student activities fee is out of money, and so significant cuts had to be made to the appeals. The first appeal was from the Afro-American Society for their annual ball. VPBF Tripi called it a “staple event” which ought to be funded; however, the Finance Board cut the original budget request from around $16,000 to $7,250, most of the savings coming from the money originally set aside for a non-Canisius venue.
The next appeal put forward was for $2,771 from the Resident Hall Association for their annual midnight breakfast. Due to financial constraints, the finance board cut funding requests for the originally requested sweatpant giveaway and polaroid photo equipment.
The third and final appeal was for $37,400 from the Student Programming Board (SPB) for Griff Fest. SPB already used all of their funding for this year, hence the exceptionally large amount of money requested. All three of the appeals passed as presented to the senate. The Griffin thanks both VPBF Tripi and President Hudson for their kindness over this past year.
Being the last senate meeting of this current session of USA, The Griffin tied up an important loose end which has not been resolved this year. In the first senate meeting of the year, Diversity Chair Julian Reynoso waved toward an empty door, erroneously claiming that somebody was there. During this last senate meeting, The Griffin asked Chair Reynoso if he had checked if he was alright in the interim months, to which he replied with a cold, “No.”
With that, the Undergraduate Student Association came to a close for all time, with the United Student Association to take its place beginning April 19.