USG Approves Club Status for African Cultural Exchange

The African Cultural Exchange was formally granted official club status by unanimous vote of the USG senate at their meeting on March 4. The club focuses on promoting Africa on campus through events and growing cultural awareness and works to help international students from Africa assimilate into the culture. 

Representatives from the African Cultural Exchange highlighted hopes of future events with the United Nations in addition to their upcoming Africa Week to be held March 21-26 (previewed in last week’s issue of The Ram), which will include lectures and cultural festivities.

With USG elections just around the corner, Michael Recca, CBA ’10, executive vice president of USG and chair of the Election Commission, announced that election dates would be moved back to March 29 and 30, to allow for a full five days of campaigning after spring break. 

John Tully Gordon, FCRH ’10, executive president of USG, encouraged the senate to bring all initiatives they had been considering to the table in the next few weeks as their term’s end nears.

“This is the time when we have to start thinking about what we have left, what we can utilize and really just make the most of these last few weeks,” Gordon said. 

In this spirit of action, senators raised concerns on which they hope USG may be able to take action in some capacity. Among these grievances were subpar facilities in the Lombardi Center, monthly payment schedules for work-study that make living on work study pay difficult and the lack of utility of the Fordham Web page. 

Patrick Scotti, FCRH ’10, executive vice president of student life, reported on discussions with Michael Latham, interim dean of FCRH, regarding internship credit. A failure on the University’s part to offer credit for internships can put students at a disadvantage because many companies cannot employ students who are not receiving credit. Scotti said that the administration was fairly open to offering credit for juniors and seniors but remained reluctant toward the same policy for freshmen and sophomores.

In addition, Scotti discussed efforts in conjunction with other student groups toward renovations of Collins Auditorium. The University does not have any plans as of yet to update the building, which is not accessible for handicapped students. Scotti said he plans to write letters to the administration encouraging action on this matter.  

“As the number of students increase that are in wheelchairs here at the University, a number of student organizations, including the Ramblers and Campus Activities Board, have stopped supporting any program that takes place in Collins Auditorium until the University sees fit to allocate money to make Collins handicap accessible,” Scotti said. “In this day and age, the University shouldn’t be holding back its students from using all its facilities.”

The Class of 2012 senate announced that one of its closing initiatives is making Career Services more accessible to students. On a department-by-department basis, the senators have been working to promote a relationship with alumni and Career Services to provide better opportunities to students.

“We’re trying to get Career Services in people’s faces because it really isn’t and it really should be,” Tom Brown, vice president of FCRH ’12, said.

Sara Kugel, president of FCRH ’11, reported that Security responded to the Letter in Support of Tailgating, essentially reiterating their concerns. Kugel plans to meet with Security to see if any process might be made via negotiation. 

Internship credits, students with learning disabilities, and scholarship awareness were among the topics of discussion at the most recent Fordham College Council Meeting, Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12, executive vice president of FCRH, said. Additionally, the Council touched on problems experienced this year with sophomores failing to take the steps necessary to declare their majors.

On a related note, the Student Life Committee announced some changes at its meeting on Feb. 24 regarding leadership and committee structure. Kathleen Biemer, CBA ’11, will replace Nick Passantino, CBA ’10, as president of CAB, which will become part of SLC’s executive board as of next year.