The Marquette Student Government elected a Student Organization Funding Committee officer, passed an amendment, discussed raising voter awareness and introduced multiple initiatives October 10.
Blake Ruppe, a freshman academic senator in the College of Communication, was unanimously elected into the Academic Student Funding Committee. He is also the College of Communication representative.
The SOF committee is in charge of allocating funds to student groups.
Although Ruppe is a freshman and has two positions in MUSG, he said he is sure that he will be able to handle the responsibilities.
“I feel very confident in faithfully executing both roles while serving in MUSG. I built a strong work ethic through my experience in my parents’ small business. While there, I was able to lead over 25 employees and manage their schedules well.”
Ruppe said one of his greatest strengths is his integrity.
“I don’t make promises that I can’t keep,” Ruppe said. “I will show strong and effective leadership by abiding to the concerns of the College of Communication students.”
MUSG also passed an amendment to modify the electoral process for the position of legislative vice president. Previously, the process was too complicated and resulted in late night votes, as the legislative body could not come to a majority.
Under the amendment, the new electoral process should be simpler. The person who receives the most votes first will be elected.
As the presidential election nears, MUSG will be partnering with the Marquette Office of Public Affairs to raise awareness of voting on campus. They have booths set up in the Alumni Memorial Union from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every weekday.
To be able to vote, students must have a Marquette voter ID card. Students must go to Union Station in the AMU and fill out some information to receive the appropriate voter ID card. Even if a student has registered to vote at the AMU, she or he has to have the proper voter ID card to vote.
Mary Czech-Mrochinski, director of government and community affairs in the Office of Public Affairs, spoke to the MUSG body about voter outreach. Czech-Mrochinski said the Office of Public Affairs is working closely with the Wisconsin Elections Commission to ensure that students are more aware of how to vote.
MUSG discussed various initiatives at the meeting. Legislative vice president Ricky Krajewski, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, has been working on an initiative to include emergency contact numbers on the backs of students’ Marquette IDs.
“We just want to ensure that students are safe at all times,” Krajewski said. “We want to make sure students have as many safety resources as they can. This is a no-cost initiative.”
The emergency contact numbers will include the phone number for the LIMO service and emergency MUPD. The initiative will be implemented as soon as next month. If you get a new ID, the numbers will be printed on the back of the card. The initiative will be more widely implemented next year.
MUSG is also looking into an initiative that will provide students with more places to study during finals week.
Luis Herrera, the College of Business Administration senator and a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, is trying to get more buildings on campus to be open later during finals week. Herrera said he is concerned about how crowded the library gets during finals week.
“We know that having students relocate after 10 p.m. to go to Memorial Library or go back to their dorm cuts off that studying rhythm. Anything we can do to help, those little things,” Herrera said. “Keeping the academic buildings open just a little bit longer would help tremendously. Anything we can do.”
