The Fordham University Rose Hill United Student Government (USG) met on Thursday, Oct. 2, for special elections and to announce proposal committees.

Executive President Lucas Hjertberg, FCRH ’26, and the Executive Vice President Andrew McDonald, FCRH ’26, presented Senator Ava Cascella, FCRH ’26, with the award for September Senator of the Month.

Hjertberg then announced that they would be conducting special elections for the Senate President Pro Tempore.

Senators Cascella, Ashley Garcia, GSB ’27 and Carter Soderberg, GSB ’27, were all nominated for the position. Cascella stated that she feels qualified for the position due to her prior involvement with USG and her knowledge of proposal and initiative planning. Garcia said that she has hunger and drive and, if elected, she would use those skills to help senators get their proposals passed. Soderberg, although nominated, was not present at the meeting and was unable to give a speech. After much deliberation, Cascella ended up being announced as the new Senate President Pro Tempore.

The USG Vice President of International Integration Jenny Hong, FCRH ’28, then presented a budget request for an upcoming tabling event where her committee will be making matcha. The tabling is scheduled for Oct. 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the McShane Campus Center. Her budget request was approved.

Hjertberg then announced five new proposal committees, including the first one set to create a governing documents commission, the second one to create a senior survey, the third one to improve the registration website, the fourth one to offer lower-level meal plans and the fifth to improve summer living conditions. Every USG member was then placed into one of the new listed proposal committees.

Hjertberg then announced that he recently reached out to the Career Center about having research opportunities listed on Handshake so students would not have to reach out to professors. He explained that the Career Center directors are now currently working on having this be included on the RamConnect platform, along with job opportunities from other employers.

The Career Center was invited to the next meeting so that they can discuss the new changes in the Career Center and so USG can ask them questions. Hjertberg also said that he asked why the pre-professional program website has not been updated; he was told that the Career Center has its own Information Technology center that is working on updating the website.

Then, Catharine McGlade, Ed.D., assistant dean for student involvement, first introduced Joshua Somrah, the new assistant director for Student Leadership and Engagement, as the new USG advisor. She also announced that the next Senior Week Event is set for Oct. 16 and that the Homecoming weekend tickets are now available to purchase.

The USG Vice President of Operations Tina Pathak, FCRH ’28, said that they have had four new club presentations this week, but they are being a bit more selective with approving new clubs.

Vice Chair of the Budget Committee Siri Bhat, GSB ’27, said that the Budget Committee received about $20,000 in funding requests but has only approved about $12,000. She explained that the reason they have not allocated all of the funding is that Model United Nations had received a sanction. Bhat also announced that Budget packets will be sent out at the same time as the Operations packets and will be due on Nov. 1.

Vice President of Student Life Luc Angus, FCRH ’26, said that the Keating Steps event was very successful and that they had a large turnout. His committee also recently created a new subcommittee dedicated to updating the bylaws and club suite rules.

The Vice President of the Gabelli School of Business (GSB) Hunter Gholson, GSB ’26, then announced that the GSB Dean’s Council has two upcoming events on Oct. 23 — a Halloween event — and Oct. 30 — a marketing event.

The USG Vice President of Sustainability Ayden Johnson, FCRH ’27, said that he is working on getting a new Fordham Flea liaison and that the Interdisciplinary Sustainability Panel has been postponed.

Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Laila Sayegh, FCRH ’27, announced that their next tabling will be Oct. 21 and that Bronx Appreciation Week is tentatively scheduled for the week of April 13.

Hong said that she will be inviting all of the cultural clubs on campus to participate in their Culture Weekend event.

Vice President of Facilities and Dining Maddie Ando, FCRH ’27, recently met with Fordham’s Counseling and Psychological Services for a discussion on a new proposal to help students get long-term mental health care and bring therapy dogs onto the campus during the midterm and final exams. She also gave a presentation about ways to increase USG accessibility to students, such as having USG members come to different club meetings to talk about what they have been working on the USG website to allow students can give feedback and ask questions for USG.
USG will meet again on Oct. 9 in Bepler Commons.