On Thursday, May 28, ASSU Executives John-Lancaster Finley ’16 and Brandon Hill ’16 hosted the first ever ASSU Executive Gala. The event hosted almost 80 people, including student leaders and administrators.
Goals
Members of the Executive Cabinet gave a presentation on the goals for the upcoming year. Leaders of the various committees spoke about ways to address relevant issues, including campus climate, sustainability, mental health and sexual assault prevention.
Some members addressed specific issues they would begin tackling. The director of the Social Scene committee mentioned finding funding for the Inter-Fraternity Council, and Funding Issue Leader Eric Wilson ’16 highlighted upcoming changes to MyGroups, the funding platform for student groups.
The Sustainability Committee was particularly concerned with broadening its reach throughout the student body. They shared plans to add Sustainable Education to NSO as well as other day-to-day activities.
“We feel that currently fossil fuel divestment is not discussed broadly among the student body, but rather among a small group of very passionate student. We want to widen that,” said Robert Young ’18, a sustainability issue co-leader.
“At the moment, there are many communities that are minimally involved in sustainability efforts on campus,” added Chiamaka Ogwuegbu ’18, a sustainability issue co leader.
The Community Liaisons explained their roles, in particular creating more inter-community dialogue, which is sometimes less examined than simply individual community presence.
“We have 10 communities currently represented on this board, but there are some that we are missing,” said Miles Brinkley ’18, the black community liaison. “So as we operate, we look to grow to encompass the whole body of Stanford’s wide community.”
Welcoming input
There was a recurring theme of gaining insight from the student body.
Hannah Long ’16, a Sexual Assault Issue Co-Leader echoed this theme: “We really want to hear specifically what people need. That means both from the student body, but also the faculty and administration.”
The second aim of the Gala was to invite students to share their input. The collaborative spirit of the d. school set the stage for white boards and sticky notes where audience members commented on topics mentioned and suggested other avenues of discussion.
The Executive team would later read these notes in hopes of adapting future projects to these needs.
Contact Alex Bourdillon at abourdil ‘at’ stanford.edu.