SGA’s weekly meeting looked a bit different as it met in the new community outreach office in the Green Building, which holds the Center for Civic Engagement and the Center for Experiential Narrative Technology.
The first major item discussed was the finalization of the election board. Chief of Staff Elliott Geary said the elections for the board are being tallied by three student leaders, who work outside SGA to ensure fairness. Those students are Thea Smith, CAB’s executive director; Dakota Nicholson, CAB’s advertising coordinator and Robert Fornataro, former SGA president pro-tempore who Geary said is a very active student on campus. The board voted to finalize.
Parliamentarian Sienna Wraith brought up the name change for Future Educators of America. Its parent organization is being renamed to the Pennsylvania State Educators, so Point Park’s chapter also has to change its name to align with the name change. The change was approved without discussion.
Vice President Madigan Balfe brought up the topic of cyberbullying, citing events such as Turning Point USA being on campus and “PPU Haters Anonymous.”
Director of Downtown Engagement Devin Frank said the anonymous nature of these comments are a point of concern for him.
“I just don’t think it’s very good to have a multitude of anonymous conflict by which to express these things,” Frank said. “It’s really just sort of a mask so as to say without as many of the repercussions of saying it.”
Frank also talked about “PPU Haters Anonymous,” where students can give unsubstantiated claims about others, because submissions and the account ownership are anonymous.
Graphic Design Coordinator Liv Curti said discussing complaints about Point Park is a valid action to take, noting that this is partially what SGA exists for. But she said the anonymous postings by students have not been productive.
“They were tearing apart people’s characters for no reason and that doesn’t have a place in a college level setting,” Curti said. “Once you turn 18, you are an adult and you could be held accountable for those things in more serious ways than you could have when you were younger.”
Curti also encouraged students to report instances of cyberbullying and block accounts responsible for it.
The “PPU Haters Anonymous” Instagram account was taken down once, brought back, then taken down again at least twice. The submission links to add comments associated with it were deleted as well.
Senators discussed the fact that the school hasn’t responded yet to these cyberbullying issues. Still, since Turning Point USA was technically on public property, the university can do nothing about issues occurring outside campus property.
Senators discussed starting a project with the Counseling Center to gather mental health resources helpful for students who are being targeted by cyberbullying.
Before the meeting ended, SGA discussed the upcoming Washington D.C. trip, during which SGA members and any students who want to go can visit D.C. for a day.
Students can make a $10 down payment to reserve their seat and get on a rented bus. The trip is on March 20, and the bus will leave at 6:15 a.m.
The last item was the Multicultural Festival, happening on Feb. 27 at Lawrence Hall 200. There will be many activities including crafts, Mexican bingo, soul food, Chinese food and more. It is free and open to any student.
The next SGA meeting will be held on March 2 at 3:15 p.m. in the PCRC.
