Leadership Town Hall
PC: Levi Ventura
Student Services organized a Union College town hall meeting at the Nebraska state capitol building on Friday, Sept. 28. Angenita Pierre-Louis, the ASB President, greeted the leaders present at the town hall meeting with a warm welcome: “Thank you for wanting to make a difference here at Union College.” She was seated with the President’s Council at the front of the chamber in the capitol building.
The President’s Council is comprised of Dr. Vinita Sauder, Steve Trana, Michelle Velazquez Mesnard, Kim Canine, Frankie Rose and LuAnn Davis. Students were allowed to submit questions or topics they wanted the President’s Council to address.
One item students brought up for discussion was the improvements in Cooper’s Corner. This year, Cooper’s has started introducing new food items for those students who don’t have time to run to the cafeteria for a meal in the evening.
The Union Market team has brought rice bowls and to-go sandwiches to stock the fridge. A panini press for hot meal options will soon make its appearance. The long-term goal for Cooper’s is to remodel the space next summer to house a deli where a variety of hot food can be purchased.
Union Market is in talks with a few chefs from different companies to work out more options for Cooper’s.
Students also asked about the possibility of bringing silks back to the gymnastics team. After the incident on Jan. 2015 when Heather Boulais fell 23 feet from the silks, the President’s Council created an updated safety manual for the gymnastics team which barred the activity.
For the gymnastics team to begin using silks again, one of the coaches would need to be certified in teaching silks. This knowledge would help the coach ensure everyone follows the procedures needed to achieve the high level of safety Union strives for.
Michelle Mesnard addressed the declining enrollment of incoming classes. While it may seem only Union is affected by this dilemma, it turns out all Adventist colleges are seeing a declining number of applications and attendance rates.
To keep Union competitive, the enrollment team is looking into making changes to scholarships to include more options for music, sports, drama and leadership.
The purpose of these changes is to ensure Union is promoted across the country to students of all disciplines and interests.
Union appreciates the hard work of all of these faculty and staff members who truly care about the students’ input on how to improve the school.
Yeimy Rodriguez is a junior studying business administration.