The Student Union seeks to improve the overall morale of students on campus and help club leaders access the university resources at their disposal, President Herbie Rosen ’12 said this week, as the Union set a new agenda for the academic year.
Thursday evening, the Student Union welcomed four new senators, at the first senate meeting of the year, including senator at large, senators for the classes of 2012 and 2014, and representatives as elected by the student body.
“I want the overall feeling of the student body to be a little more content,” said Rosen. “I love Brandeis. It’s the best choice I ever made to come here. This year is the Student Union’s chance to impact the community.”
This week the Student Union hosted a club leaders conference on Thursday and will host another on Friday. The conference is co-sponsored by Student Activities, and is designed specifically to help the leaders of each club on campus to understand how to access Brandeis’ resources, to avoid confusion during the year and to encourage efficiency as early as possible.
“We are doing a giant jump start meeting,” said Andrea Ortega ’13, Student Union communications director. “The conference will include a session with the Student Union treasurer about how to request funding for clubs and how to run events.”
Student Union Vice President Gloria Park ’13 expressed optimism about the Student Union’s agenda for the upcoming year. “At the Student Union, we want to move forward collectively this year. We are in the process of planning our annual Union retreat, which is our way of trying to get to know all of the new Student Union members,” Park said.
“In addition, we are making plans for the midnight buffet, the state of the union address and the turkey shuttles later this semester,” Rosen added.
“We are continuing our talks with campus dining services and with facilities to see how we can improve our residence areas. We are going to do as much as possible to celebrate Brandeis for everything that it is.”
Union leaders also continued to describe work the Student Union plans to develop with the Department of Community living, and plans to better advise students living off campus.
There are also plans for a Festival of Social Justice in February called “’Deis Impact,” sponsored by the Student Union and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.
Clubs, ranging form arts to athletics, are encouraged to participate and share how their definition of social justice has impacted the Brandeis community.
Off campus, Brandeis Student Union has been participating in the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council (BILC) for the past two years.
BILC’s goal is to bring student body representatives from Boston-area colleges and universities together, so they may seek inspiration from one another. In the past year, Brandeis has remodeled its Student Union website to reflect that of Tufts. According to Ortega, the website is now a much more interactive and resourceful place for Brandeis students.
