The Student Life Council (SLC) convened for their first full council meeting of the year on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
The SLC is Fordham’s collaborative space between deans of both Gabelli and Rose Hill, students, administrators, Rose Hill United Student Government (USG) representatives and other selected individuals to discuss campus activities and involvements. Being the first meeting of the year, new members were introduced, such as Briana Al-Omoush, FCRH ’24, and Ava Coogan, FCRH ’25, who won USG’s executive ticket last spring and sit on the council as members. Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Michele C. Burris, also sat in on the meeting as a guest to provide insight on student affairs and field questions from the committee.
Burris spoke about tasks that she’s undertaken this semester and that she enjoys her position. She said Tania Tetlow’s new tenure as president has been energetic; she nodded to how she has spent the beginning of this year navigating the role to make student affairs and activities a space where “hopes or dreams students might have” can be fulfilled.
When fielding questions and comments from the committee, some members expressed concern about how to properly address student issues, both known and unknown. Burris established that it is her goal as interim vice president to meet with students and listen to them prior to setting goals for the academic year.
Following the discussion on outreach, Vice President of Operations Lauren Walcyzk, FCRH ’25, directed concern toward Burris as she urged the need for gender-inclusive language in all communications coming from Burris’s and other departments at Fordham. Speaking on the matter at the meeting, she stated, “It is important to be patient, assist one another, and we need to learn that language is changing.”
Following this, Hector Cruz, FCRH ’24, executive president of the Commuting Students Association (CSA), discussed the importance of keeping attention towards commuter student needs and events geared towards commuters. Discussing how the new McShane Campus Center commuter lockers are having technical issues, an interim solution of first-come, first-serve lockers will begin on Monday, Sept. 25 in McShane, as students await the solution to these technical difficulties.
Following this discussion, the Intoxication Transports Update reported that the university had 24 intoxes and six refused medical attention (RMAs) so far this year, compared to last year’s 19 intoxes and eight RMAs.
Continuing on, the meeting’s focus then shifted to the university’s recent analysis of COVID-19 and rising cases in New York. The committee discussed how Finlay Hall’s garden level has been discontinued as a quarantine option this year and is housing students.
As an alternative to this option, the university said they urge students who are diagnosed with COVID-19 to go home, quarantine in place, mask up and remain in isolation for five days. The committee said that students are free to go on campus to get food while positive for COVID-19, but must wear a mask while doing so.
Following this, the committee discussed how students should be taking actions themselves to keep the community safe at Fordham, such as vaccinating against COVID-19, referencing an email advisory sent out late August on the university’s stance on the virus.
When answering the question as to whether or not Fordham has taken direction from other Jesuit universities or organizations on the steps taken regarding COVID-19 protocols, Dean of Students Christopher Rodgers said that the university keeps their stance aligned with CDC advisories and communicates information to other institutions. Once the discussion on COVID-19 concluded, the committee transitioned to more Fordham organization updates. CSA reported that they have four vacant spots on their general assembly and will continue to hold special elections until they are filled.
Al-Omoush discussed recent special elections to fill vacancies on USG. Following this disclosure, Coogan said she has been conducting one-on-ones with current senators to advance the USG agenda and set the year off in a positive direction.
Campus Activities Board (CAB) then discussed how the recent events of their live speaker from SNL had record attendance, and other events, such as their Rods’ concert.
The Residence Hall Association (RHA) then discussed how gen-board elections are underway and large-scale events are currently being planned.
Following, the Office for Multicultural Affairs (OMA) said 65% of the 400 students who attended their student leader training strongly agreed that the training helped set themselves up for success this year. Also at the meeting, the OMA announced how they will be holding more events this semester. The Gabelli School of Business said Mario Gabelli’s annual talk with first-year students was a success, giving every freshman $100 to start their IRA.
Wrapping the meeting up, The Office of Student Involvement (OSI) discussed the club fair and week of welcome. Concerns were brought up about the timing of orientation and club events, and the accessibility to commuters. OSI said despite this obstacle, all students have the ability to be involved despite barriers, as club involvement saw a surge, with some clubs seeing more than 600 new student sign-ups at the club fair.
