During this week’s Senate meeting, SGA members discussed initiatives to engage with the student body and to hear their concerns as they plan for future improvements.
Plans range from improving the Mercer mobile app to administering more intuitive surveys about dining services.
Vice President Oge Onuh announced that SGA will host a Town Hall in the first week of November.
“[It will serve as] a place for students to come, to talk to SGA [and] to ask questions that they have,” she said.
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Sen. Grant Denton reported on an event that the Campus Safety and Improvement Committee will hold in the University Center Oct. 10, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“[The purpose of the meeting] will be taking student concerns on what parts of campus they feel are unsafe [so SGA can implement changes],” he said.
A second meeting on the same topic will take place Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Connell Student Center. The student body is encouraged to attend.
Much of the Senate meeting was devoted to Pilgrimage to Penfield. The soft deadline for registration is Oct. 11, and the event will take place on Oct. 15. It will emphasize Mercer history and include live music, food and games.
Heritage Life chair Ashila Jiwani spoke passionately about the importance of Pilgrimage to Penfield to the Mercer community, especially to freshmen.
She said that registration numbers this year are fantastic, with 525 students currently signed up to attend.
Senator Adam Penland then motioned to approve a Bear Grant request from Mercer’s chapter of the American Chemical Society. American Chemical Society President Zachary DiGiusto and Treasurer Elijah Henderson were there to address the Senate.
“[The organization’s] purpose is to expand the understanding of chemistry and its use to better the earth and everybody’s life, and we requested funding to help us accomplish some of our goals,” DiGiusto said.
The decision to award them the Bear Grant was unanimous among those who voted. Only Sen. Keegan Moody abstained.
In terms of Residence Life, Resident Assistant applications will open on MyMercer starting Oct. 13. Room change requests are also now available to students.
Senator Clark Myers announced that he is working with Traffick Jam, a campus organization dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking in the Macon-Bibb area, to host a silent march through downtown Macon called Walk 4 Freedom.
He said that Macon’s Walk 4 Freedom will be one of 700 worldwide marches organized by Australian sex-trafficking awareness group A21.
“[Sex trafficking is prevalent in Macon, though] a lot of us don’t realize that,” he said.
The march will depart from Tattnall Square Park on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 10:30 a.m.
Traffick Jam is also hosting a profit share with Margarita’s in Mercer Village the evening of Oct. 10.
Next week, SGA said they are planning to hear from Mercer’s Vegan Club and Sports Marketing & Analytics Club. Both will request recognition as official campus organizations.
SGA approves Bear Grant for American Chemical Society, emphasizes further campus outreach including Pilgrimage to Penfield
