Family weekend closes with GM–PU brunch

The Grand Marshal–President of the Union brunch was held in the McNeil Room as part of an activity-packed Family Weekend. During her address to the students and parents, President Shirley Ann Jackson stated how proud she was to have “a Union run by the students.”

Grand Marshal Meagan Lettko ’20 introduced Jackson after praising various student groups and activities on campus and encouraging students to change the world. Jackson spoke for about two minutes, mentioning her support for the Union.

She ended her speech by thanking Vice President for Student Life Peter Konwerski for enhancing the student experience through programs like CLASS, Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond, and the Arch.

President of the Union Caitlin Kennedy ’20 thanked everyone that made the brunch possible before presenting the Nussbaum Award to Rebecca Nungesser ’20 for her extensive volunteer work with the Society of Women Engineers and Engineers without Borders.

Her work included running blood drives, creating $22,000 in scholarships to help people attend SWE conferences, and working on a water distribution system in Nicaragua with EWB.

Director of the Union Charlie Potts gave the final speech of the morning, emphasizing the importance of personal connections. He said that Rensselaer is a “family,” meaning that “we work at it” to strengthen relationships and work towards enhancing student life and student well-being.

Following this, he went on to describe how the Student Government leaders have to do a lot of behind the scenes work on top of the rigorous Rensselaer coursework, and that most people don’t see or acknowledge the fatigue resulting from taking on these leadership positions.

Potts then went on to say that his goal is to make students “feel supported and happy about what is going on,” both academically and personally.