Student Council met in Ern Commons Tuesday — continuing their Student Council Comes to You initiative and seeking participation from first years and resident advisors in particular — to discuss student safety initiatives around Grounds.
Safety and Wellness Committee Chair Rachel Murphy, a third-year College student, spoke about new safety mobile apps available to students. The University must partner with app providers for them to be used, and she said many vendors are vying to establish this relationship.
“[There’s] a lot out there, and we’ve been trying to get U.Va. to speed things up,” she said.
Murphy said that new safety apps are just one part of the puzzle.
“There’s safety in numbers but that doesn’t make you invincible,” she said. “At the end of the day you are still not in a vehicle or with a police officer, [and] you are not a trained medical professional.”
Also at the meeting, a capella group New Dominions appealed for additional funding.
New Dominions President Vishwa Bhuta, a fourth-year Commerce student, said the group has only been allocated $700 for their fall roll trip. She asked Student Council to raise their funding up to $1,123, in keeping with Student Council’s policy of funding a CIO up to $0.25 per mile on a trip.
Vice President for Organizations Kyle West, a third-year Commerce student, responded on behalf of the Appropriations Committee.
“We felt that this was a necessary cut because this will not benefit the overall University community,” he said. “We found some other funding requests a little bit more meaningful and more beneficial to the overall University community.”
West said every other student group at the University took a similar budget cut unless their budget proposal was extremely low. Council voted to leave the allocation of $700 as it currently stands.
Student Council also heard from representatives from AcHOOstics, a prospective all-Greek a cappella group, about becoming a CIO.
A representative from the organization said when first forming the group, founders were only extending invitations to join the group to students identified under the ISC. She said they have now decided to change their constitution to open up to any Greek organization on Grounds.
Many councilmembers debated the exclusivity of the group and whether or not the a cappella group would be in violation of any discrimination bylaws for CIOs.
Representatives from AcHOOstics said they would show preference to Greek students but would be accepting of any student who wished to audition.
The group must submit a new constitution to Student Council before being reconsidered for CIO status.
Read More
Students have federal internship offers rescinded due to hiring freeze
By Nina Broderick | 5 hours agoUntil July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled, and no new positions may be created.
Man dies from self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the Rotunda
By Ford McCracken | 10 hours agoThe investigation is ongoing, and additional details are not available at this time.
Virginia primary elections feature contested race for Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate
By Nicolas Biernacki | YesterdayEligible voters can find more information about early voting by consulting the City Department of Voter Registration & Elections website or the County Department of Elections website.
