By Julia Barth, Ava Green and Patrick Healy
With many of its members absent, the Undergraduate Student Association (USA) met for its weekly session on Tuesday. They welcomed Bennie Williams, director of the ALANA center, as the meeting’s guest speaker.
Williams passed index cards to the members of USA, asked them to number the cards one through 16 and gave 16 scenarios that might cause people to be uncomfortable. For each scenario, members rated their hypothetical comfort level on a scale of one (not comfortable at all) to four (very comfortable).
In reflecting on the activity, senators noted their discomfort with some of the questions, and Williams emphasized the senators’ role as student leaders in creating a welcoming environment for Canisius’s increasingly diverse student population.
An appeal for $60,000 by the Student Programming Board for an upcoming guest speaker was put up for a vote. Though legal reasons prevented Vice President for Business and Finance Gee Singh from saying who the speaker is, the Senate unanimously approved the funding, a process that was quick and smooth for USA.
USA President Jahare Hudson announced that, after months of advocacy, Unity was approved to host a drag show. Through Hudson, USA Executive Vice President Jill Galanti provided many internal USA updates in absentia. These included a mandatory speech for next year’s USA executive and senate candidates to be held Saturday, March 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Grupp. Presidential candidates will debate each other afterwards.
Student Interests Chair Carlo Mastrodonato announced the details for this spring’s Thursday in the Quad events. They will be held on Thursday, April 20, April 27 and May 4. Food trucks will include Buffalo Bros Burgers with the Novelty Ice Cream Truck, Frank’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, Sweet Melody’s Gelato with Cheesy Chick and J & L Barbeque.
Other committee chairs released their committee’s remaining events for this semester, including a campus cleanup by Sustainability Committee and the Public Health Committee’s events centered around Women’s History Month in March.
Dining Services Liaison Alyssa Kornacki met with Chartwells to discuss their upcoming contract, and they have many new ideas for next year, including a community space at the market for local vendors/businesses, rotating meals at Iggy’s, changing the pick-up location to Shoppe 120, a smoothie bar being installed in Shoppe 120 and self-service kiosks in the dining hall to help with traffic.
Daeshyon Riley was announced as the new library liaison, and with that, the meeting was closed out at just before 8 p.m., a quick meeting for the campus’s student leaders. USA Advisor Jason Francey, not present at the meeting, nevertheless made his presence known by asking President Jahare Hudson to honorarily delay the adjournment of the meeting.