On Thursday, April 22, Fordham Rose Hill United Student Government (USG) held its final meeting of the 2020-2021 academic year. 

Dr. Robert J. Hume and Dr. Kristen Swinth, co-chairs of the Core Curriculum Revisions Board, came to take suggestions from the Senate for their revised core. 

Senate members’ suggestions for a better core included adding an American pluralism class that included racial bias training. This kind of course would educate Fordham students about racism in America and the modern American political climate, suggested Sen. Carlos Rico, FCRH ’21. 

Vice President of Operations Audrey Felton, FCRH ’22, suggested that freshmen core classes such as Faith and Critical Reason and Composition II follow suit of classes like Text and Contexts and Understanding Historical Change and introduce variants of courses. Students gravitate toward classes with multiple attributes, and having different versions of these courses would help students choose their core, said Felton. 

Vice President of Sustainability Maggie Tattersfield, FCRH ’22, suggested a standardized syllabus for Philosophy 1000, as students currently cannot know the course topics before choosing their course. 

Vice President of Gabelli Reilly Keane, GSB ’21, would like Gabelli students who are minoring in Fordham College at Rose Hill to be allowed to register for Eloquentia Perfecta (EP) classes. Vice President of Communications Maya Bentovim, GSB ’23, seconded this point and shared that she had missed out on taking some classes because they included an EP attribute. 

Sen. Farah Elrakhawi, FCRH ’24, said that the language requirement for FCRH students feels too exxtensive. Taking the requirement down to two or three semesters would be more manageable, Elrakhawi argued. 

The Residential Hall Association’s (RHA) Fordham Dance Marathon (FDM) is still fundraising and taking donations. The team behind FDM will be tabling on campus with FDM t-shirts and masks while supplies last. All donations will go to the B+ Foundation, which helps spread awareness of childhood cancer and works towards finding a cure. 

At the end of this final meeting, USG members welcomed next year’s Senate. New members got to participate in their first meeting and said they are excited for next year to come and look forward to change on Fordham’s campus.