Sixteen members of Ball State University's Student Government Association traveled to Purdue University on Wednesday night in an effort to collaborate with the school and get ideas about how to improve student life.
Nicole Akey, SGA president pro-tempore, has been talking about the trip with the president of Purdue's student government since the beginning of the semester.
"We wanted to see what other schools around the state were doing in their governments and get ideas on how to improve our own," Akey said.
Akey, SGA President Beth Cahill and 14 other senators sat in on Purdue's senate meeting Wednesday. After the meeting, Ball State senators were treated to dinner.
Cahill said she hoped the event would help the two universities improve their relations.
"It's good to collaborate on ideas and hopefully other slates can continue to do this in the future," she said.
During the talks with Purdue's student government, Cahill said the group focused on Purdue's off-campus dining services program.
SGA Secretary Carson Lance said he hoped they could figure out how Purdue manages their off-campus dining so Ball State can extend its Cardinal Cash system off campus.
"We'd like to know how their vendors are contacted and whether or not this system works," Lance said.
Organizational Caucus Chair Joey Torres said he wanted to work with Purdue's caucus to see what kinds of organizations are being represented.
"It's a great idea to bounce off ideas and talk about things we haven't thought of yet," Torres said.
Junior Ricky Van Doel said he thought SGA should be focusing on what their issues are instead of listening to an outside party.
"It's cool that they're getting help, but I'd prefer they listen to us and focus on what we need," Van Doel said.
Ball State student Broderick Goodnight, however, said that the trip could prove useful as long as it helps students on a local level.
During the Purdue Student Government meeting that SGA attended, Cahill said some points of order were improving the "Boilerzone," a no-alcohol zone at tailgating events, and Recyclemania, an effort to encourage students to recycle.
"The meeting went very well," Cahill said. "Everyone was very nice and welcoming."
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