SGB honors the memory of Pitt student Barbara Como

Student Government Board started its weekly meeting Tuesday night by having a moment of silence for Pitt senior Barbara Como, who passed away Saturday.

“If you are having a hard time right now, please lean on your friends and lean on people that you trust,” President Zechariah Brown said.

Following roll call, Brown discussed an opportunity for students without a meal plan to receive free meal swipes. Students interested in attending Market Central’s Lunar New Year event, hosted by the Asian Student Association in collaboration with Sodexo and Student Affairs this week, will receive 30 free swipes. The event will take place on Friday from noon to 2 p.m. and the menu will be posted on SGB’s social media pages later this week.

Board member Cedric Humphrey also spoke about the upcoming Eat and Greet hosted by SGB and Pitt Dining, which will feature the Cathedral Cafe’s new food options. Humphrey said the event, which will take place on Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. in WPU Dining Room A, is only open to the first 40 people who sign up.

Brown also provided an update on the Sexual Assault Prevention Grant, announced by the Chancellor’s Office in October to support innovative solutions for preventing sexual misconduct on campus. The first information session will be held on Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. The second session will take place on Jan. 27 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Both will be in the William Pitt Union Room 630. Brown said any representatives from student organizations who are interested in making grant proposals should attend one of the two information sessions. The deadline to apply for the grants is March 31.

SGB also provided an update on the naming guidelines SORC said it would be reinforcing for student organizations last semester, prohibiting the names of independent student organizations from including University trademarks or wordmarks like “Pitt” and “Panther,” instead encouraging clubs to use phrases such as “at Pitt” or “at the University of Pittsburgh.”

The board released three possible solutions to the problem at its Nov. 6 meeting, with its preferred solution being to utilize SORC to approve names and marketing materials for clubs, allowing the use of University trademarks or wordmarks as long as sponsorship is not implied or stated. Brown said after the meeting that he would meet with Director of Student Life Linda Williams-Moore and SORC Coordinator Lynne Miller this week, but would not specify a day.

Nick Bibby, the elections committee chair, reminded students that application packets to run for a position on next year’s SGB board are due on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. He also announced there will be a candidates mixer this Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. in WPU Room 540. 

“The mixer is a great chance for students interested in running to meet members from SGB and other potential candidates,” Bibby said.

After the meeting, Brown said that a substantial number of candidates have already picked up election packets and that he is expecting more packets to be turned in within the coming week.

“I think what’s best for our small Pitt democracy is to have as many different viewpoints as possible,” Brown said. “We’ve had candidates pick up packets as late as today actually.” 

Executive Vice President Anaïs Peterson reminded those in attendance that the Pittsburgh Stands Against Facism in India rally will be held at the Frick Fine Arts Building’s fountain on Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m.

Clara Weibel, the SGB outreach coordinator and the co-director for the Student Office of Sustainability, reminded students about the field trip SOOS is taking to the Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit — an all-day event being held on Jan. 25 at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. According to Weibel, there will be a SOOS debriefing event on Sunday following the summit where students can reflect on what they learned at the event and apply it to their respective organizations.

Weibel also announced that SOOS and the Global Hub will be running a plastic recycling drive for an architecture studio course. There will be drop-off locations for clean plastic bottles, plastic bags and plastic food containers at various locations around campus, including the SOOS office in WPU 510 and the Global Hub in the galleria on the ground floor of Posvar Hall.

“The architecture studio course will use these materials to design a collateral holder for the Global Hub,” Weibel said. “It’ll be really exciting to watch this take shape and I’m really excited that we got to help plan the drive.”

Stephen Jacobus, SGB’s newly appointed judicial committee chair, was excused for the night due to an illness.

Brown ended the meeting by encouraging everyone to be kind to themselves and reminding anyone struggling with the loss of someone close, stress, depression or anxiety to visit the Counseling Center’s regular drop-in hours which take place 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For after-hours support, students can call 412-648-7930.