At the most recent Syracuse University Student Association meeting, a motion was passed to allocate $500 to contribute to a menstrual hygiene product initiative on campus.

It has been an SA initiative to provide menstrual hygiene products in the bathrooms of buildings on campus since last year. Now, Chair of Student Life Elizabeth Sedore said she plans to expand the project.

Currently, products are only provided in certain buildings on campus in women’s restrooms. Sedore wants to include the products across campus in bathrooms for all genders.

The $500 will help SA buy five boxes, each containing 500 tampons, and two boxes containing 250 pads each. The Student Life Committee is also working on a system to restock these products efficiently.

Vice President Angie Pati also talked of efforts to partner with Hendricks Chapel to potentially send a team of volunteers to assist with Hurricane Harvey, Irma or Maria relief. Those plans are still in the works, she said.

Pati added that Monday’s Mental Health Awareness Week kickoff on the Quad, which was hosted by SA, was “better than (she) could have ever imagined.”

During the meeting, President James Franco called for an executive session — when non-members of SA must leave and all session deliberations are private — which lasted about 30 minutes. Franco declined to comment on what was discussed during the executive session.

The co-chairs of diversity affairs, Khalid Khan and Diasia Robinson, announced they are trying to coordinate with the Slutzker Center for International Services. Khan and Robinson said they want to plan a Thanksgiving or gratitude-themed dinner for international students, or even students who cannot go home for the holidays.

The Diversity Affairs Committee is also forming a partnership with Food Recovery Network to “help bridge the gap between on-campus and off-campus populations,” Khan said. Food Recovery Network is an organization that works to take food from SU dining halls and deliver it to food pantries and homeless shelters.

Three 2017-18 Remembrance Scholars are members of SA. Evanna Ojeda, Angie Pati and Cierra Britton gave a presentation about the 35 students who died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Each year SU picks 35 seniors to represent the students.

“For the university to lose one person like that is tragic,” Pati said. “For it to lose 35, changes the campus completely.”

Other business:

The Ad hoc Constitutional Review committee assembly members were elected last week. This week, two cabinet members were also elected to serve on the committee.

Ad hoc Constitutional Review Committee cabinet members:

• Andres Laguna Martino, senior communication and rhetorical studies and international relations dual major
• Abdulaziz Al Sulaiti, junior policy studies and economics dual major

Published on October 3, 2017 at 12:19 am

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert