SGB seniors bid farewell to Pitt

It didn’t take long for Natalie Dall, president of SGB, to shed tears during her report Tuesday night.

“Thank you again to everyone for making this place my home,” she said. “And for one of my last times as a student and as SGB President: Hail to Pitt!”

In the final SGB meeting of the year, board members and committee members alike shared a bittersweet farewell followed by a “Sweet Caroline” sing-along to wrap up their time together. Joining Dall in graduating from the board are Executive Vice President Sydney Harper, board member Rohit Anand and board member Samantha Jankowitz.

“My time in SGB has been nothing more than transformative,” Dall said. “I received the absolute gift of being able to work with some of the most humble, hardworking and genuine people I could imagine at Pitt.”

While the board reports Tuesday night at Nordy’s Place reflected changes made throughout the year, some were outright entertaining. Harper began her board report with a short rap about her experience on SGB. Board member Justin Horowitz gave his board report sporting new Ray-Ban sunglasses. Judicial Chair Jad Hilal ended his last committee report by walking on the chairs of Nordy’s Place, rapping to “Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake.

After the emotional chaos of board and committee reports, the Board passed four new bills. The approval of these bills, which were introduced at the last board meeting, bring the board’s total count of passed bills since September to seven.

The four bills approved yesterday will provide all students with free online subscriptions to The New York Times, officially include the First-Year Council and communications committee — initially established as ad hoc committees this semester — in the governing code and add an extra open-floor segment at the beginning of SGB weekly meetings.

SGB members also addressed some of the projects mentioned at past meetings that couldn’t be finished by the end of this academic year. Some of these projects included adding an extra reading day during finals weeks, adding counseling center information to syllabi and publicly releasing OMET information.

SGB President-elect Max Kneis said his board will see those issues through when it returns in the fall.

“One thing that spoke true to me this year that I would like to bring into next year is the spirit of collaboration…how we can work with student groups and use their expertise moving forward,” Kneis said.

As of this meeting, the board has allocated $813,934.70 of the $850,000 in this year’s allocation money. Last year the committee allocated less than $800,000. The current surplus will be used to fund club sports teams over the summer as they prepare for and compete in national competitions.

Excess funds roll over into a separate University account, out of SGB control, according to Allocations Chair Maddie Guido.

“The only thing that can ever happen to that money is that [it] can be used to improve the overall student experience…it is not SGB money,” Kneis said.

Black Action Society members attended the meeting to ask for a larger budget for next year. The group was allocated over $65,000, but this was not enough to cover a MLK Day speaker. The board encouraged the group to move funds where they could and look into alternate speakers for other engagements.

Following the allocations, the board members were reluctant to adjourn, forcing Dall to motion once more. As Dall raised the motion a second time, Kneis responded with a bittersweet reply.

“Begrudgingly, yes,” he said.

Allocations

Tau Beta Sigma requested $1,412.14 for a national conference. The board approved in full.