CLIMATE CHECK
Senior President Jaelen Harris started off this week’s climate check by mentioning that Advisor David Tuttle would be addressing concerns regarding housing for the spring. Advisor Tuttle messaged the Zoom chat that in short, the students would be receiving an update about the spring housing plans by Thursday, October 15.
TIGERS AGAINST ARAMARK UPDATE
President Harris mentioned last week’s SGA meeting that included a discussion between Tigers Against Aramark and Aramark representatives. The discussion was about an hour long and occupied most of SGA’s meeting time. This week, President Harris asked SGA members if they could vote on whether or not SGA would be signing the Tigers Against Aramark petition that demands Trinity not renew their contract with Aramark dining services because of their ties to the prison industrial complex.
Senator Polo Perez was the first to motion to sign the petition made by Tigers Against Aramark. Then, other SGA members voted in the chat. All who did vote said yes to signing the petition.
Advisor Tuttle weighed in and said that Trinity’s contract with Aramark runs until 2023. He shared that though they are taking student demands seriously, the administrative staff is swamped with the task of digital transformation and redoing the entire university infrastructure as a result of COVID-19. According to Advisor Tuttle, Trinity is focused on continuing to manage COVID-19 and working with the diversity and inclusion task force.
Advisor Tuttle said students should keep in mind that there are only about 4-5 vendors across the country who serve college campuses, and as a result of this, they will all be likely to carry baggage that Aramark is being scrutinized for. He also shared that this would be an opportunity for Trinity to look at vendors and how they select them. Advisor Tuttle added that because of Trinity’s commitment to digital transformations and the diversity and inclusion task force, the Aramark requests may not be met as quickly as students would like. Nonetheless, they plan on continuing to assess their contract with Aramark.
SPRING HOUSING
Advisor Tuttle says that students will be getting a spring housing update from the university tomorrow, Oct. 15. For this fall semester, students will still need to vacate residence halls by Nov. 22.
On Oct. 28th, the application process for the spring will open. It will close on Nov. 30th. This time around, however, students will be charged a $200 fee if they change their plans after the month is over, and a $400 penalty if they withdraw from housing after December 9.
