SGB appoints Ryan Young as interim vice president

Student Government Board appointed board member Ryan Young as interim vice president of governance, replacing Derek Dressler, who resigned last week. Young will serve for the remainder of the spring term. 

SGB voted to approve President Danielle Floyd’s nomination of Ryan Young as vice president of governance at its Tuesday evening meeting in Nordy’s place. Additionally, the board voted on Braydan Issermoyer and Annika Agarwal to fill vacant board seats and also announced that it will bring a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion proposal to Disability Resources and Services on Wednesday.

SGB approved Young’s appointment to the role with no objections and only Young’s abstention. SGB cited “work, school and familial obligations,” as reasons for Dressler’s departure. 

Floyd said since Young’s appointment to the board last September, he has worked on the Students Against Sexual Misconduct committee and “partnered with members of our organization to look at our assembly.” 

“Within his short tenure, he has shown great strength and determination to serve the greater student body,” Floyd said in an email after the meeting. “I know he is only getting started, and am confident that he possesses the ability to carry out the VPG responsibilities and cater to the diverse needs of students.”

Issermoyer and Agarwal initially ran against each other to fill former board member Alison Linares Mendoza’s seat. At Tuesday’s meeting, SGB approved both their appointments. Neither voted throughout the meeting.

“I couldn’t be more proud to welcome the both of them to the board,” Floyd said. “They’re some of the most capable individuals that I’ve met here on campus, and I’m really excited to work alongside them for the remainder of the year.”

Floyd said members of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee will meet with Pitt’s Department of Disability Resources and Services on Wednesday to discuss a proposal regarding “future ways for collaboration” and “improvements within DRS as a whole.”

The proposal suggests that DRS assess Pitt’s ADA compliance, upgrade wheelchair accessibility across campus and improve Safe Rider accessibility. 

Leonie Finke, the chair of the judicial committee, announced her resignation from the Constitutional Review Task Force, which she opted into in October. She said she left the task force weekly meeting early last Sunday because she repeatedly felt “neither her time nor her expertise had been respected.” 

“I just felt like that expertise both with my daily work and with my work on the assembly was not being heard,” Finke told The Pitt News after the meeting. “It being mainly just the majority of the board and me, I felt like I wasn’t going to have my voice heard either way, and so I just decided to opt out because through that it would give me the permission to engage in the dialogue that happens when my committee then reviews the proposal.”

Finke said she will continue to serve as the judicial chair where she feels more “comfortable.” Finke said it “wasn’t one person” on the task force who made her feel disrespected.

“We all spoke to one another,” Finke said after the meeting. “It wasn’t a specific person. It was just, there were a lot of miscommunications. Obviously, we’ve had a lot going on the past couple of weeks, and, you know, I just thought it was not kind of an investment that I could pursue with the many other requirements that I have in my role as chair.”

The board also unanimously voted to pass Bill J.B.-2023-2 which clarifies the procedure in the absence of a vice president. The bill clarifies that if the vice president is absent, either the president can fulfill the role at the discretion of the vice president or the vice president can suggest another board member fill the role. 

Allocations

Pitt’s branch of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology requested $5,253 for transportation and lodging at a conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The board voted to approve $3,000 of the request due to limits in how many people it can fund for a conference. Issermoyer and Agarwal abstained. 

Phi Delta Epsilon, a medical fraternity, requested $1,155.77 to send four members to a conference in Philadelphia. The board voted to approve $1,439.80 of the request because allocations can’t cover dining expenses. Issermoyer and Agarwal abstained. 

Movement Exchange, a dance education club, requested $2,443.52 for lodging and transportation costs for a service trip in Panama. The board voted to approve the request in full with abstentions from Issermoyer and Agarwal. 

Panther Lacrosse requested $3,298.89 for lodging costs for a tournament in Georgia. The board voted to approve the request in full with abstentions from Issermoyer and Agarwal. 

The Muslim Student Association requested $3,102.06 for lodging and transportation of a guest speaker. The board voted to approve the request in full. Issermoyer and Agarwal abstained.