Campus-wide updates, given at the recent meeting of the General Student Senate (GSS) include free Wednesday movie night, fraternity rush week kicking off, a cornhole tournament and much more.
This meeting was called to order on Tuesday, Sept. 6. With it being the second one of the 2023-2024 school year, a session of nominations took place this week and another is scheduled for the next. Jon Guzman was sworn in as a new senator.
The guest speaker series will be reintroduced to GSS meetings as of next week, Sept 12.
VP of Financial Affairs, Paige Allen, reported she is currently working on updating financial policy forms. These documents are to ensure that all senate members are on the same page when discussing funding requests. Allen states that they are also helpful for those interested in requesting funding.
Julian Ober, VP of Student Organizations, announced she has spent the week organizing the online version as well as a paper version of the list of clubs on campus so that everything is up to date. She has also been working on updating the clubs on the app Campus Groups as well.
VP of Student Entertainment, Myles Moore, reported the first free Wednesday movie night for UMaine students at Black Bear Cinemas was a success. The cinema posted on Instagram at 4 p.m. last Wednesday that they had 54 people in attendance. They hope to increase that number in the upcoming weeks. The Senate was unsure whether the cinema accepts Black Bear Bucks at this time.
The student involvement fair on Friday, Sept 1, was a great success for the GSS. VP of Student Leadership Jacob Chaplin, was given a special thank you for his efforts at the involvement fair. The GSS table actually ran out of applications at one point and had to print more, as there seemed to be exceeding interest in joining.
Chaplin noted that approximately 60 to 70 applications were taken throughout the day. There will be a booth in the Union from noon to 2 p.m. on Fridays as well as 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays for the next couple of weeks. Information on joining GSS and merchandise will be available at the booth.
Honors College Student Activity Board President Cali Warren said the organization received many sign-ups from interested first-years in particular during the student involvement fair. The will be a poll sent out to determine the set meeting time for this school year. The board is also currently in search of an advisor.
The Interfraternity Council, Justin McCauley, reports that fraternity rush week began this week and will be happening for the next two or three weeks depending on the fraternity. McCauley also said he will be meeting with Lieutenant Mitchell from the University of Maine Police Department to discuss recruitment and the fraternity rush process.
Panhellenic Council, Kaitlyn Sterner, reports that 133 people have signed up for recruitment. Recruitment will be happening the 9, 10 and 11 of Sept Pi Beta Phi and Alpha Omicron Phi have a school supplies drive happening until Sept 15.
“Drop off locations for the supplies will be in the Rec Center, Union, and Hilltop Dining,” said Sterner.
Delta Phi Epsilon has their annual Cystic Fibrosis Gala at the Wells Conference Center on September 30. Tickets are on sale now through a link in their Instagram bio.
Senior Class Council Representative Nathalie Poulin reminds everyone about the Cornhole Tournament Sept 20 at Orono Brewing Company from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The form to sign up can be found on their instagram.
B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation, the UMaine Jewish Organization, brought forth two acts. The first being a funding request for $115 as their office budget, as well as $150 to be put towards Rosh Hashanah Dinner.
The third act was proposed by the Black Student Union for $300 for food for their upcoming meeting. Both of these acts passed unanimously with no debate.
A session of nomination also took place this week. These nominations were for certain representative positions. Senate members could either accept the nomination or respectfully decline. Nominations will also be happening during the next GSS meeting on the 11th.
“Individuals who are still waiting to become senators will have the chance to accept their nominations next week,” said Tripp. Once nominations are finalized, a vote will be held.
