The 2014-15 Student Council held its first meeting Tuesday. Student Council President Jalen Ross, a third-year Engineering student, opened the meeting.
“I think the idea this year and the most important thing we’re going to do is focus on our core businesses and, the way I see it, that means relationships,” Ross said. “It means relationships with students, with the people we serve, and amongst ourselves. I’m very excited about what this team is going to do. We’re going to have an awesome year ahead of us.”
The new Council got the ball rolling with discussion of creating a bill relating to sexual misconduct at the University. Students have expressed interest in making sexual misconduct an honor offense — including via a recent SpeakUpUva petition — however, many legal problems prevent the University as well as other universities across the nation from doing so.
“When people ask about making sexual misconduct an honor offense, our answer has to be ‘that can’t happen,’ but that is not where the conversation stops,” Ross said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of people. We’ve got a set of tangible advocacy points that we can talk about. I’d love to see a bill hit the floor about this.”
Council also discussed the issue of student transportation to and from this year’s Foxfield races. The University Transit Service does not have the drivers to provide service this year. Some solutions discussed were providing a taxi service for students, hiring a separate bus company or even creating a student driver service in future years. However, many logistical and liability issues may arise from other methods of transportation.
“One solution is for us trying to replicate the [UTS] process, if it’s a big enough problem then we can find a way to do that,” Ross said.
Excitement was in the air for new executive board members as they planned for the upcoming year.
“It was great to be involved in the Student Council,” Law School Representative Morgan Lingar said. “I served as an undergraduate student as well as [on the] Law School Student Council. I’m excited to see what this experience brings.”
New Vice-President for Organizations Kyle West, a second-year Commerce student, also expressed enthusiasm for the new group of representatives.
“I’m excited to transition from the older exec from last year to a very young, diverse group of individuals this year,” West said.
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