Last year, three different teams competed against each other in a difficult and highly publicized race in student government elections. A major theme that was shared by students’ campus wide, which was reported by the UVU Review, was they didn’t know what UVUSA did and didn’t feel they were being transparent. The students who won the election (3 from team Impact and 1 from Exelerate) promised they would give reports regularly through the UVU Review to help students who normally aren’t as interested, know information about what they have done. As I serve you as your student body president, I want you to be informed of as many things as possible, and ultimately report to you about some major things we have done over the last several weeks. So, as promised, here is our report.
The Academic Senate:
Ron Paul was so far this year’s biggest speaker event which was held in the UCCU Center. We did this event to appeal to students political views which aren’t being represented by the two political figures currently running for office. It has made a huge impact on students and community members and we feel it will open doors for future big name speakers to come. We also partnered with The Center for Constitutional Studies to bring in David McCullough and helped us remember the history of our country. Joe Torillo, a firefighter who survived the September 11th attacks also spoke on September 11th. Orson Scott Card, author of Enders Game, also came and was a wonderful guest. He was waiting for 5 hours to sign books for our students. We are also working with marketing people, IT, and others to create a more effective website that will be
able to increase student feedback and give
students resources to help them solve
issues on campus.
Clubs:
We have been welcoming new clubs and providing them with the resources they need to be successful. The Bass Fishing club started this last year and has already competed on a national level in the National Collegiate Fishing League. UVU’s Bass Fishing club took 8th place in the FLW Conference Championship. Our Club Ambassadors are continually helping and representing clubs like this to help them be successful. One way to increase club outreach in the community is through partnerships. Something new this year is we are collaborating with Independence High School, an alternative school which only offers core-curriculum classes, to help provide electives which the clubs manage and counts for credit. Not only does this help the students at Independence, but it also gives them a chance to work with college students, which will hopefully increase their drive for higher education, and gives UVU students the opportunity to positively influence young people.
Independent:
Through partnerships with other organizations on campus, we helped 1,000 students register to vote. The Judicial committee oversaw and managed the David McCullough event, hosted political events on campus, and have televised all three political debates on campus for politically charged students, while offering free dinner for those in attendance. UV Mentors hosted a campus resource fair which reached over 4,000 students and helped them learn what resources are available to them on campus. The International Student Council hosted a slew of cultural events such as the Korean Potluck, Middle Eastern lunch, and even hosted the Ugandan ambassador. They are also supporting the Unicef campus initiative. The Multicultural Center hosted the Bachata Fest which had over 1700 attendees.
The Service
Council has
had multiple service prtects and has overseen a number of community partner relationships such as the City of Orem and Habitat for Humanity.
Activities:
We aided administration in freshman convocation and provided activities and opportunities for them to be involved. We hosted our True Wolverine event and broke a record with over 500 people in attendance. Our Welcome Back Dance sold over 1400 tickets. We hosted Brave for a movie night and many students brought their families and helped address the needs of non-traditional students. Battle of the DJ’s was a new event we created this year and had over 600 people in attendance. Our Pink Woman’s Soccer Game celebrated a victory as students were able to come together and share a common goal for breast cancer awareness. We have done many other events but only have named a small few. Other events are soon to come, like Insomnia and Homecoming.
Not only have we done what our position outlines require us to do, but we have really stressed the importance and power of the student. We have done things from obtaining more motorcycle parking space, to helping a student ran company called GorillaVIP figure out how to start a Scholarship for UVU students. We truly care about student success and the impact we make in the world. Come by the UVUSA office located in the Student Center, SC105, to find out more about what we are up to and who we are helping. Keep your eyes out for UVUSA’s “Game for Fame,” an opportunity to win prizes by simply taking pictures of yourself doing amazing things with a UVUSA Pennant. Pennants are available in the Student Government office at the front desk. Check out our Facebook page at Facebook/UVUStudents for more details.
Chad Workman, Student Body President, UVUSA
