Office reallocations in the Student Government Suite spark long discussion

Last Wednesday, the Executive Board’s Business Operations Committee Chairperson Emryn Philogene ’25 presented a motion to reallocate the office spaces in the Union’s Student Government Suite. The motion was originally brought forward because the Judicial Board and Election Committee needed office spaces within the SGS. However, these committees would be given space at the expense of the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, and the Multicultural Sorority and Fraternity Council.

Despite not being a Senate meeting, several Senators were in attendance at the E-Board meeting including Grand Marshal Vivian Rost-Nasshan ’26 and Vice Grand Marshal Timothy Miles ’25G. Senator Ria Massoni ’25G asked if Philogene had communicated with the committees directly to discuss their office needs. While Philogene had not reached out directly, a form had been sent out last semester for committees to fill out so that he could better understand their needs. He had also emailed to inform that the motion would be brought to the E-Board in this meeting. However, Greek life councils had not received or completed this form, as they are not directly Union-affiliated.

The presence of the Greek organizations within the SGS was a point of contention throughout the discussion period. Despite Greek organizations not being Union-recognized, Rost-Nasshan pointed out the recent efforts to reestablish positive relationships between the Union and Greek organizations, and her sentiments were backed by Massoni, Long, and Kileen. However, some members of the board remained against the motion, including Member-at-Large Representative Jacob Steingart ’25G, who championed the opposition. Steingart remained firm in the argument that Greek organizations are not Union-affiliated and do not belong in those offices with the claim that “it is the Student Government Suite, not the all student on campus organization suite.” As clarified by Miles, no formal exception was ever made for Greek organizations to join the Suite, but they were included due to the fact that Greek councils used to be a part of the Senate until their separation in 2015.

There were also some concerns about the original proposed deadline, which was three weeks from the date of the meeting: March 10, 2025. Rost-Nasshan raised some concerns about this deadline, as this might not be enough time to move and cause disruption within the student government. There were some suggestions of waiting until the end of the semester or at least excluding Spring Break from the allotted weeks.

After a long period of back and forth, the meeting was closed for final discussion and voting. When the room was reopened, the motion had passed 15-0-1, with both the date being moved back to March 14, 2025 and the Greek life councils being removed from their office spaces. Although Greek life councils were invited by Business Operations to further discuss finding another location, the motion now leaves them without any space in the Union.

The removal of Greek organizations from the SGS raises some questions about relations between Student Government, the Union, and the Greek community. As discussed by both Long and Kileen, Greek life on campus has been making significant efforts to work hand-in-hand with the Union. Rost-Nasshan was more supportive of keeping the Greek life office space. “Even though it is the Student Government Suite, in their own form they are student government and they do represent a large portion of our population,” the Grand Marshal stated.

At the end of the meeting, Potts gave an update on the plans for renovations to the first floor of the Union. As Potts described, this project has been a very extensive, iterative process, but he hopes that the plans will be finalized soon. The new plans suggest the implementation of a theatre, ballroom space, and arcade, as well as many other new features. The project would ideally start on April 25 and finish by mid-August, right on time for the start of the Fall 2025 semester. Notably, April 25 is during Reading Days when the Union is packed with students studying for their final exams. This was mentioned to Potts who stated that the renovations could be moved back, but he wants to start renovations as early as possible. The first floor of the Union was also closed last year over the summer for renovations to the Rathskeller, though the plans back then were to also renovate the games room and Mother’s.

Potts reflected on the difficulties of finding an architect for the project given the tight deadline but assured the E-Board that an architect has accepted the job and has been very collaborative in finalizing the renovation plans. Funding for the project would be derived from accumulated student activity fees collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the Union was not fully operational and spending was limited at that time. Potts did not say how much the project would cost.

This E-board meeting was held on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. The E-board meets every Wednesday at 7:30 pm in the Student Union Room 3202.