As Katie Maxwell, began her presentation in Sunnen Lounge at the Delegates’ Agenda on Thursday, Feb. 23, her partner, Michael Grosch, soon interrupted her. He rushed up to the front of the room apologizing for his tardiness. The audience turned to look at Grosch and they smiled, laughing as he walked by. He had a broomstick sticking out of the back of his pants.
Maxwell asked where Grosch had been. He tried to explain the Quidditch club’s emergency of trying to find a place to store their equipment.
“Uh…Michael,” Maxwell said as she pulled the broomstick out of Grosch’s pants.
Grosch then handed the broomstick to President Elizabeth Stroble. She kindly accepted as the crowd let out a laugh.
Maxwell, sophomore sociology and math major, and Student Government Association (SGA) secretary, and Grosch, sophomore international relations and speech communications major, and SGA vice president, were advocating for more space on campus for student organizations to store their supplies purchased from SGA funds.
Maxwell said there is currently only one drawer in the SGA office for more than 60 organizations to keep purchased items. Students cannot hold budgeted supplies from SGA funds in personal spaces. The lack of space means SGA has to turn down certain organizations’ purchase proposals.
“Being the SGA comptroller, I’m the person who has to tell these student organizations, ‘No you can’t buy this TV, you still have to use your own personal TV and lug it from your apartment to the library to use for your club,’” senior Kris Parsons said. “That’s not good for anyone and we are holding these student organizations back.”
Maxwell and Grosch said the lack of space means organizations have limited access to their supplies. Restrictions on funds from SGA on which organizations can purchase and unsustainable purchasing when items are lost over time, are also problems.
Justin Barton, retention initiatives program coordinator, said his office is located in the SGA office, which is usually crammed witn supplies from different organizations.
“From a staffing perspective and an adviser perspective, having additional room and storage would help,” Barton said. “Sometimes I have to move hula hoops off my chair so a student can come have a meeting with me.”
The presenters suggested padlocked boxes for organizations to use in a storage room on campus close to the University Center. Maxwell said some of the possible locations for the storage space could be the Kirk House, the Carriage House, the basement of the Pearson House or the Garden Park Plaza Parking Garage basement.
“All the items on the Delegates’ Agenda, how we see them, are goals, goals in process,” Provost and Senior Vice President Julian Schuster said. “Successes happen when we ask the right question and then when we work together in order to provide the right answers.”
Students presented four other proposals at the Delegates’ Agenda. The proposals were to upgrade academic facilities, improve the identification card system, have more student accessibility to the Wellness Committee and create additional scholarships for international students.
Students, staff and faculty will gather for the Administrative Response on Thursday, March 22, to see what possible solutions university administration has come up with to solve these campus issues
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