During the first town hall meeting of 2024, the Grand Rapids Community College Student Government approved four allocation requests, three of which were from the Black Africana Student Union (BASU). These events look to connect the community with students at GRCC and will all include free food.
Student Government started the meeting with icebreaker questions along with introducing the new treasurer Hector Cumming. Cumming was introduced as treasurer early in January and was just announced since the town hall meeting scheduled on Jan. 29 was canceled due to campus being closed for a snow day.
The first allocation request that was approved was Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) asking for $936.94 for the PTK convention from April 3-7. The convention allows four GRCC students to travel to Orlando, Florida at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. Since the request was under $1,000, Student Government was able to confirm the allocation without the Campus Activities Board (CAB) approving it.
BASU had the three other allocation requests with all of them being accepted. The first was a request of $975 for a Food 4 Da Soul. This event takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
“It’s gonna be an event where everyone comes together and gets to eat some soul food,” Jackson said. “We’ll talk about soul food, what it is, where it came from, and the history behind it.”
The second event for BASU, the BASU Dance Workshop, was also accepted unanimously, for a total of $200. This is an opportunity for creators and dancers to come together and work on their hip-hop dance moves. This event takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
The last event that’s allocation was accepted was the BASU Social Hour, which is an event designed to connect students with one another while also getting student feedback on future BASU events along with planning future events. Hot cocoa and cookies will be provided along with a panel discussion after students are given a chance to build connections.
After all the allocations were accepted, GRCC Ford Fieldhouse Director Whitney Marsh and GRCC Executive Director for Operational Planning Victoria Janowiak discussed a potential re-design of the pool at the Ford Fieldhouse.
“We are in the schematic design phase right now,” Janowiak said. “As soon as we’re done with that, we’ll get a budget check and move on from there.”
This phase is the second phase and design development will soon follow. Construction isn’t expected to happen until next fall and it is expected to take around 10 months to complete.
The designers envision a student-centric design that not only ensures students get better athletically, but also helps students have a better learning experience. This includes having ramps for wheelchair accessibility and having a roof garden entrance at the Ransom Avenue entrance, adding a room for nursing mothers, and gender-neutral locker rooms.
The final discussion of the meeting was whether the Student Government was going to propose equalization for the Campus Activities Fee for full-time and part-time students.
“Why is it $5 for part-timers and $10 for full-timers when they get the same benefits,” GRCC Student Government Communications Director Nicholas Thomasma said. “It’s out of this question which evolved a proposal… and this is definitely good to look into.”
With the four allocations being accepted, the current budget for Student Government sits at $11,048.33 heading into the month of February. The next bi-weekly meeting for Student Government occurs on Monday, Feb. 12, from noon-2 p.m. at Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall room 108/109.
