On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Fordham University Rose Hill United Student Government (USG) met to conduct special elections, approve budget requests and hear reports.
The Residence Hall Association (RHA) chief communications officer Yeonsu Son discussed the status of the residence hall elections. There are candidates for most positions in every residence hall except for Finlay Hall due to a miscommunication. Since the application period has closed, RHA will send out a form for special elections to fill all open positions when the campaigning period ends.
USG also held another opportunity for students to run for the currently unfilled Gabelli School of Business (GSB) Class of 2025 senate positions. Nobody showed up to run. Afterward, the special election for the vice president of Facilities and Dining was held. No senators had shown interest in the position until Senator Mike Rodriguez, FCRH ’27, decided to run and briefly spoke about his love of food. According to a source close to Rodriguez, he has a private story on Snapchat where he documents his meals. A short voting session was held, and Rodriguez was elected as the new VP of Facilities and Dining. Because of this, a position will open for one Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) Class of 2027 Senate seat. Special elections for this seat will be held at the following meetings.
Joseph DaProcida, FCRH ’25, the vice president of Student Experience, gave an update on USG’s Keating Steps showcase event. The Student Experience Committee requested $1,298 for ice cream, an ice cream cart and labor. Keating Steps will be held on Friday, Sept. 20, from 6-8 p.m., showcasing several Fordham performance groups.
Executive President Lucas Hjertberg, FCRH ’26, gave updates about the Class of 2028 Senate elections. Eight candidates are confirmed nominees; four are running for FCRH seats, and the rest are running for Gabelli seats. Meet the Candidates was Friday, Sept. 13, in McShane Campus Center 112. Voting opened on Monday, Sept. 16, and closed on Tuesday, Sept. 17. All elected candidates will join USG for the first time this Thursday, Sept. 19.
Executive Vice President Eron Maltzman, GSB ’25, asked the executive board and senators about potential administrative, faculty or other guests that USG would like to host. Among those mentioned were representatives from Information Technology (IT) to address issues with printing, a representative from Facilities to address delays in washer repairs in residence halls and a representative from Aramark to discuss upkeep and progress of the McShane Marketplace.
Assistant Dean Catharine McGlade provided an advisor report in which she discussed updates on the Homecoming Weekend festivities. She reported that 1,600 students had registered to attend the President’s Ball on Friday, Sept. 13. Of the 1,600, 1,200 were Rose Hill students, and the remaining 400 were students from Lincoln Center. She also informed USG that tickets for Family Weekend would go on sale soon.
Vice President of FCRH Emma Blake, FCRH ’25, recently met with Dean Maura Mast to discuss new initiatives. Blake and Mast had several ideas, including a meet-and-greet event featuring her dog and donuts and conducting dean’s office hours.
Additionally, they discussed creating a database for research opportunities. In a faculty meeting, changes to the add/drop policy were proposed, suggesting a later drop date for the upcoming semester while maintaining the current add date to avoid disrupting attendance records.
There was a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new McShane Marketplace on Monday, Sept. 16 at 11 a.m., attended by newly confirmed VP of Facilities and Dining Rodriguez.
