We would like to thank the Marquette student body for its support in electing us the 2015-16 Marquette Student Government President and Executive Vice President. We are excited and humbled to have this opportunity to help build a stronger community and foster a more inclusive environment with our fellow students.
One of our main priorities is increasing transparency and student involvement throughout the various initiatives we pursue. That being said, we would like to highlight some of our goals to finish out this academic year and emphasize our dedication to hear and act on students’ concerns throughout our terms.
The Student Organization Funding deadline for both club and non-club sports for fall 2015 funding is this week. We are extending the application deadline for organizations to Sunday, April 12 at 7 p.m. This extension is to ensure that students have enough time to complete their applications.
The SOF process has gone through numerous changes this past year and this is the first time organizations will be applying under the new application. We want to ensure this transition runs smoothly as possible so students receive the funding they deserve. In order to do this we will be hosting open SOF workshops Tuesday – Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the MUSG Office, Alumni Memorial Union 133. We welcome all students to come and speak with us about their applications.
Another priority of ours is to increase equity and inclusion on campus and within our surrounding community. This year MUSG formed the Committee for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (DISJ) to create a direct outlet for student concerns to be addressed. Additionally, MUGS created the ad-hoc Committee on Community Engagement to raise awareness of our surrounding neighborhood.
Both of these committees have done great work but we hope to ensure each has adequate funding available to carry out their various initiatives. We will be advocating for a direct funding line for the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice in the FY16 MUSG Budget. Additionally, we will be establishing the Community Engagement Committee as a permanent component of MUSG and advocating for an increase to the proposed funding for this committee in the FY16 Budget. The FY16 MUSG Budget will be voted on Monday, April 13 and we will be working hard to have next year’s budget reflect these goals.
Lastly, we will be exploring new ways to further Marquette students’ connection with the city of Milwaukee. A new, innovative and healthy transportation option for students is through the Bublr Bike Share program. We hope to bring a Bublr Bike station to our campus by the end of this academic year so students are able to utilize this resource over the summer and into next fall. Numerous Marquette students have expressed their desire for a location on our campus so MUSG has launched a campaign to formally gather students’ interest through an online petition at musg.mu.edu/bikes. We encourage all students to sign our online support form to bring Bublr to campus.
We are excited for the year ahead of us. Together, students can be the catalyst for change on campus and within our neighborhood. We, as students, are here at Marquette for a finite number of years. Therefore, we must do as much as we can with the time that we have to learn and grow from one another, and help foster a stronger community for all students and our neighborhood.
Zach Wallace and Aliya Manjee are Marquette Student Government President and Executive Vice President-elect for the 2015-2016 school year.
