First of all, thank you for reading the first ever Monthly Word from the President! When elected last year as the new SGA executive slate, Catalyst made a promise to students to create an open window of communication and a sense of transparency between students and their Student Government Association, and this new publication is just one step of the many great strides we are taking to fulfill that promise.
Every week, a different member of exec blogs to fill you in on our recent activities, and starting with today, at the first of every month, I will be giving a more extensive look at how your SGA is making a difference at Ball State and how you can get involved. Our goal is to create an environment that empowers the student body by recognizing that the students — YOU — are the very heart of what makes this university great.
This September, we kicked off the 2010-2011 year right with free bus rides for students to the first Cardinal home football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Pairing with Athletics, we filled four University buses and three Star of America buses with excited students ready to cheer on their #1 team. Overall the event was a huge success, especially for our Ball State Cardinals with an awesome win over Indiana University!
After the game, we jumped off the buses running as we prepared for our second huge event of September: The T-Shirt Trade-In, the first event of its kind at Ball State University. Students were given the opportunity to trade in old shirts from other schools or universities for brand new Ball State Cardinal Pride T-shirts.
For two weeks, we stationed ourselvs at various locations around campus and even in the tailgating lot prior to the BSU vs. Army game. In this time, we collected almost 600 T-shirts from other schools, all of which we donated to the Muncie Mission. After the main week of our event, we had the Muncie Mission come to a Senate Meeting to tell us a little about the organization we were benefitting and how students were able to make a difference. The three goals we had for this event were: 1) Remove other school pride from the Ball State campus. 2) Bring more Cardinal Pride to Ball State. 3) Do something great for the community. We are proud to say that, with the help of the students who participated, all three goals were accomplished!
Another fantastic event put on this past month was the Biker Registration day held by the Student Safety committee. For far too long, we have been hearing stories of bikes being stolen on campus, so this year the SGA decided to take a pro-active role in helping protect students. At this event, held with the cooperation of SGA, UPD and WCRD, over 70 students were able to register their bikes for free and hopefully rest easy knowing that their beloved bikes are that much safer.
The last item that I would like to highlight is one that we have been diligently working to provide for students: the Leadership Fund. As part of reorganizing the SGA budget this year, we have allotted a fund to help students develop valuable leadership skills by covering the fees required to attend leadership conferences. In order to receive the funding, students fill out the application and provide a short essay describing the conference and what benefits can be gained from it. After the conference, students have the opportunity to share what they have learned so that students of the future can benefit as well.
The SGA is an organization for the students by the students, and it is open to all students, no matter their age, major, or ability. You can find us at bsu.edu/sga, on Facebook or everyday in our office, which is located in the Student Center Room 112, We want to hear from you, so stop by and see us anytime to find out how you can make a difference during your time at Ball State.
See you soon!
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