CLIMATE CHECK

Sophomore Senator Nellie Clark and Sophomore Senator Sydney Barner reported a stray dog between Mabee Dining Hall and Prassel Garage to Trinity University Police Department (TUPD). Senator Clark said they were concerned about cats on campus and other students’ service dogs who might be distracted by a stray dog on campus. TUPD said they would send an officer to deal with the issue, but no car arrived. Calling TUPD 10–20 minutes afterwards, the dispatcher said they had received calls about the problem previously and not to worry about it. They said they were troubled by TUPD saying they would send an officer, and then not doing so. Senior President Omar Ratrut said they would reach out to the Chief of Police, Paul Chapa, for a potential Staff Chat.

President Ratrut asked Associate Dean of Students and SGA Adviser Benjamin Williams about a problem they had heard about where a student attempted to submit an application to study abroad in the spring, but the study abroad office said they were no longer taking applications for the spring semester due to ‘funding issues.’ Williams said he would look around for more information, but he had no concrete answer at the time.

STAFF CHAT

Director of Integrated Counseling, Health and Wellness Services, Marcy Youngdahl, talked to SGA about JED Campus, a strategic plan to improve mental health of college campuses used at over 500 campuses. Youngdahl said she is hoping to use all of Trinity’s resources and departments to improve student mental health over the next few years. Vice President for Student Affairs Andrew Wells sent a survey on the current state of student wellness on campus, looking for ways to make improvements. Senator Clark asked how results had changed from the last mental health survey. Youngdahl said that LGBTQ+ students reported less healthy mental states, but that this is not a problem limited to Trinity. Since those results, Wellness Services has hosted events promoting LGBTQ+ physical and mental health, changed counseling services to better assist LGBTQ+ students and is working on gender-affirming guides. Chief of Staff Bocar Diagana asked what results Youngdhal was looking for in JED Campus. She said that while reducing the chance of student suicides is always the goal, she’s also hoping to shift the culture at Trinity around academic stress and perfection, as it’s a big driver of mental health at college campuses.

FUNDING REQUESTS

The Trinity University Latino Association (TULA) requested $1,893.08 to host Viva Las Americas, a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. $1,248.24 of that will go to food, including pupusas, arepas and aguas frescas among other desserts. The organization also hired La Nueva Combinación to perform at the event. Senators debated whether to fund the request for aguas frescas. TULA requested $110 to buy necessary ingredients to make it themselves, which lowered the cost from last year’s event. However, TULA estimated the request. Senator Clark said that SGA doesn’t fund estimations, which is one of the reasons they had rejected the Epsilon Chi Rho rush budget request two weeks ago. Senior Senator Alex Brown said he didn’t want to encourage more expensive catering just because it would be easier to budget. Associate Dean Williams also said that the business office would look at all receipts of student clubs and return any Student Activity Fund money they do not use in their events. Senators fully funded the request unanimously.

Asian American Pacific Islanders Council (AAPI), which represents Asian and Pacific students on campus, requested $1,681.20 for their Mid-Autumn Festival, a harvest festival celebrated in many Asian countries that gives international students the opportunity to celebrate it while they’re away from home. The festival will include activities like making matcha, painting lanterns, folding origami and eating foods from various Asian cultures. Senators all approved of the budget, and the request was fully funded unanimously, with Junior Senator Maya Tsai abstaining from the vote due to her involvement in the club.

*This story was updated on Oct. 9 for accuracy. TULA hosts Viva Las Americas, not the AAPI Council.