By Piper Molde
Grand Rapids Community College Student Alliance held a meeting on Sept. 23 to discuss overall mental health of students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting was held by Brendan Burke, President of the Student Alliance, and the Operations Director Brandon VanWyk, with guest speakers from Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an honors society for two-year colleges, giving a presentation on the mental health of students.
Student Alliance is in place as a way to bridge the gap between faculty and students, according to Burke.
“To try to help other organizations be well-funded, or advocating for student needs,” Burke said.
VanWyk also said that “Student Alliance gives the students the ability to voice concerns about different policies and concerns on campus and gives students a way to get more involved.”
The purpose of this organization is to make sure that everyone’s needs are being met, especially those of students. Student Alliance has done many things on campus on behalf of students, including changing parking to $3.50 a day for every student. Student Alliance is also in charge of budgeting for clubs, student organizations, and extracurricular activities on campus.
Burke and VanWyk began their meeting by asking a few ice breaker questions to get everyone in attendance comfortable with each other. Then, they handed the floor to PTK, who gave a presentation on their findings from research about how the pandemic affected the mental health of GRCC students.
Every other Thursday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Student Alliance holds town hall meetings in Room 500 of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall. These meetings cover a variety of topics, however, they all uphold the purpose of the organization – to bring together students and faculty to discuss problems or concerns around campus.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. Viewers can livestream the meeting via Zoom by signing an RSVP beforehand.
