Across the board: Meet this year’s student government
By Emily Wolfe, Contributing Editor
July 1, 2019
As a first-year student arriving at Pitt, it can be tricky figuring out exactly what SGB does, or even what it stands for. The answer to the latter is pretty easy: SGB is Pitt’s Student Government Board, the official undergraduate student government organization.
SGB welcomes new members, announces Counseling Center changes
By Maureen Hartwell, Staff Writer
April 10, 2019
With the academic year coming to a close, Pitt’s Student Government Board spent its Tuesday meeting passing new legislation and introducing new members for SGB 2019-20.
SGB talks race, housing, sexual health
By Maureen Hartwell, Staff Writer
February 6, 2019
Jahari Mercer offered a moment of silence for the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin during his report at the Board’s weekly Tuesday meeting, the day Martin would’ve turned 24 years old.
SGB urges Pitt to cancel classes
By Maureen Hartwell, For The Pitt News
January 30, 2019
“The coming weather is going to impede staff, faculty, and even administrators from safely coming to campus,” the email to University officials said.
SGB beefs up workout facilities
By Maureen Hartwell, For The Pitt News
January 16, 2019
SGB will hold two more Town Halls before the end of the year, and one will focus on sustainability.
SGB looks ahead to elections, empowerment
By Neena Hagen, Staff Writer
January 9, 2019
At SGB’s first meeting of the semester, board members discussed upcoming and ongoing initiatives, including one to ban tobacco products on campus.
SGB pushes stricter laws on firearm sales
By Emily Wolfe, Senior Staff Writer
December 5, 2018
After more than a month of trying to help Pittsburgh heal from the Tree of Life shooting, SGB has set its sights on making change in Washington.
Post-break SGB discusses Town Hall, PWLE
By Emily Wolfe, Senior Staff Writer
November 28, 2018
Pitt’s Student Government Board eased back into a regular schedule with its first traditional public meeting in three weeks Tuesday evening.
SGB addresses student voting issues, campus improvements
By Emily Wolfe, Senior Staff Writer
November 7, 2018
SGB members are in talks with Pitt about adding needle-disposal sites on campus, as well as blue lights to light the way home.
SGB hears criticism of Sodexo, the University
By Emily Wolfe, Staff Writer
October 24, 2018
SGB will hold its second Eat and Greet meeting this Friday — the first public opportunity for students to question Sodexo officials since revelations last week that the Allegheny County Health Department cited Market Central for 14 health code violations.
Students bring mental health to light with spoken poetry
By Sarah Shearer, Assistant News Editor
October 12, 2018
Eight speakers shared spoken poetry at SGB’s “Stay Spoke Poetry Night” event Thursday evening in the William Pitt Union. The event was hosted as a part of Mental Health Awareness Month.
SGB focuses on physical and mental health
By Emily Wolfe, Staff Writer
October 10, 2018
At a free public lunch this Friday, Pitt students have the opportunity to voice opinions on Pitt food and dining services. It’s one of several current SGB initiatives which seek to close the gap between Pitt students and key players at the University. The Eat & Greet meeting will take place ...
SGB goes green for mental health awareness
By Emily Wolfe, Staff Writer
October 3, 2018
SGB curated an October calendar of events for mental health awareness, aiming to create safe spaces for students to discuss ways to promote self-care.
SGB unveils Town Hall to reach students
By Sid Lingala, Staff Writer
September 26, 2018
The Student Government Board announced the creation of a Town Hall at Tuesday night’s meeting, aimed at bringing more students into the conversation about various campus issues.
Campus grocery store on the menu at SGB kickoff meeting
By Brian Salvato, Staff Writer
September 5, 2018
Board member Albert Tanjaya made a notable announcement about his focus for the semester. Along with improving the user accessibility of Saferider, the late-night transportation service available to students in Oakland, Tanjaya is looking to help the grocery store installation to Pitt’s campus.
SGB opens year with open house
By Kieran Mclean, Staff Writer
August 29, 2018
Over snacks and refreshments at the Student Government Board open house Tuesday night, first-year student Nina Duong approached SGB President Maggie Kennedy to see how she could be more involved on campus. “I knew I wanted to do student government,” Duong said. “But I don’t know where to g...
Courses cut costs as OERs come to Pitt
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
May 30, 2018
Thousands of students flock to Oakland every August to attend one of the most costly public schools in the United States. These students will either go The University Store on Fifth to buy their textbooks at full price or go to sites like Amazon, praying for a better deal and two-day free shipping. Either ...
Get to Know Your Government: Introducing SGB
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
May 30, 2018
Most students can’t speak one-on-one with administration to discuss issues most important to them or muster up enough support from the student body to get administration’s attention. This is where the Student Government Board comes in to help. From pressuring Pennsylvania’s elected officials to pass a sta...
SGB bids farewell in final meeting
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
April 18, 2018
Plenty of teary, emotional thank-yous and farewells occured at Tuesday night’s Student Government Board meeting — the last official meeting for the 2017-18 board. During his final report, President Max Kneis took the opportunity to thank everyone who had been with him along the way. “From my f...
SGB brings the bills, renews NYT subscription
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
April 11, 2018
It was a busy Tuesday night in Nordy’s Place as Student Government Board passed three bills and introduced four more. Of the total seven bills, six deal with internal SGB structure, adding new committees and redefining or clarifying code and procedure. The only bill introduced not about internal mat...
IFC addresses Greek life action plan at SGB meeting
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
April 4, 2018
Pitt’s Interfraternity Council president, Christian Baker, spoke about a working action plan that was recently released for Greek life at Tuesday’s Student Government Board meeting. Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner released the document Monday in response to two incidents during the spring 201...
SGB reveals updated finals week policy
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
March 28, 2018
Student Government Board announced changes to finals scheduling at Tuesday’s public meeting that the board hopes will reduce the stress of finals week. Currently, if a student is scheduled to take three exams on the same calendar day, that student can move one of those exams. But starting next year,...
University Senate discusses teaching innovations
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
March 28, 2018
Pitt faculty, staff and administrators gathered Tuesday afternoon to discuss innovation in teaching and making higher education more accessible to all. About 50 Pitt faculty, staff and administrators attended the University Senate’s 2018 plenary meeting — an annual event held to discuss a pressing to...
SGB promotes March For Our Lives
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
March 21, 2018
Members of Student Government Board supported the March For Our Lives rally Tuesday, with President Max Kneis supported calling it a way for young people to show civic engagement. “I think it’s a really important issue for young people to be involved with,” Kneis said at the public meeting....
SGB calls for medical amnesty extension
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
March 14, 2018
Student Government Board returned from spring break and unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday night urging the Pennsylvania state government to extend medical amnesty — a pardon on criminal charges for medical reasons — in the case of alcohol incidents to the underage person experiencing the crisis....
Looking to a new Horizon: Kennedy wins SGB presidency
By Madeline Gavatorta and Christian Snyder | The Pitt News Staff
February 21, 2018
Maggie Kennedy couldn’t stop smiling Tuesday night after hearing she received 56 percent of the vote to secure the Student Government Board presidency for next year. Kennedy, a junior political science and communication major running on the Horizon slate, received 1,889 votes to defeat junior ma...
Guide to 2018 Student Government Board election
By The Pitt News Staff
February 19, 2018
Each Pitt student can vote Tuesday for one president and three board members to fill the nine elected positions on the 2018-2019 Student Government Board. Last year’s election saw double the voter turnout of the previous year with about 30 percent of the student body voting. SGB is responsible for allocating the $2.6 million Student Allocations...
SGB candidates debate for presidency
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
February 13, 2018
Maggie Kennedy and Saket Rajprohat met Monday night to debate for one of the most influential student leadership positions on campus — the Student Government Board presidential seat. The duo showcased their knowledge of the Pitt student community along with their qualifications for holding office. Tabitha B...
SGB updates on provost search
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
February 7, 2018
At Student Government Board’s weekly meeting Tuesday, Senior Vice Chancellor of Research Rob Rutenbar said the provost search committee involves no smoke or bunkers. “The search committee I am chairing is not decisional. And what that means is that we don’t all go retreat to the Cathedral, go...
SGB hosts Master Plan meeting for students
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
January 31, 2018
Nico Bernstein took issue with the Campus Master Plan presented by Owen J. Cooks Tuesday night at Student Government Board’s weekly public meeting, saying the plan emphasizes athletics and neglects the arts. “[Cooks] talked a lot about creating new spaces for athletics but not new spaces for s...
SGB round-up: board reflects on campaign promises
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
January 26, 2018
During the spring 2017 Student Government Board election season, candidate and then-Vice President Max Kneis called for transparency and higher outreach on the board. One year later, the 2017-2018 Student Government Board, headed by now-President Kneis, has made that a priority. “I think you se...
SGB calls for textbook cost reduction
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
January 10, 2018
At Student Government Board’s first public meeting of the semester Tuesday night, SGB President Max Kneis introduced and read a resolution calling for the University to expand the use of open educational resources, such as PDF textbooks. “[Textbooks are] just another added cost, so anything we can do ...
SGB reflects on meeting with administration
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
December 6, 2017
At Student Government Board’s last public meeting of the semester Tuesday night, SGB President Max Kneis discussed the board’s lunch earlier that day with Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, Senior Vice Chancellor and Provost Patricia Beeson and Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement and the Secretary of...
SGB, Rainbow partner for fundraising counter protest
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
October 4, 2017
Max Kneis, president of Pitt’s Student Government Board, requested a moment of silence for those injured and killed in Las Vegas at the beginning of the SGB meeting Tuesday night. Nordy’s Place was momentarily suspended in silence — before Kneis transitioned to the topic of the “hateful...
Pitt, Rainbow prep for Westboro protest
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
October 4, 2017
With the Westboro Baptist Church planning to protest on Pitt’s campus Thursday, the University and campus organizations are preparing. The WBC is known for its hateful speech against the LGBTQ+ community, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and American soldiers. According to its onlin...
SGB Commends Student Counter-protesters
By Madeline Gavatorta | For The Pitt News
September 20, 2017
Taking the platform in Nordy’s Place Tuesday night, Student Government Board President Max Kneis started with a statement about Monday’s protest outside of Litchfield Towers. “Intolerance and bigotry have no place here at Pitt,” Kneis said. He said SGB supported and approved of the “brave students...
SGB maps out plans for the year ahead
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
September 6, 2017
Pitt’s Student Government Board held their “first real public meeting” for students Tuesday, according to President Max Kneis. “Last week was just introductory,” Kneis said. ‘“And while I know most of you are here for allocation requests, hopefully you get something else out of this....
SGB promises online NYT subscriptions, forms committees
By Nolan Roosa / Staff Writer
April 12, 2017
After promising changes to the Student Government Board governing code all year, SGB introduced four bills last night that would create new committees and provide students with online New York Times memberships. Two of the new bills will add a communications committee and the First Year Council i...
SGB town hall sees low turnout
By Nolan Roosa / Staff Writer
March 29, 2017
Student Government Board’s monthly town hall lasted only 15 minutes Tuesday night, a change from the typical hour-long meeting. Nordy’s Place was nearly empty while board members reminded the few attendees to apply for SGB committee positions for the upcoming year. SGB’s town-hall-style meetin...
Board looks to eliminate Saturday finals with student vote
By Abbey Reighard and Dale Shoemaker / The Pitt News Staff
October 8, 2014
A Student Government Board referendum may eliminate Saturday finals if the Board can show student interest and negotiate with adminstrators. Students can vote on the referenda, which went live at midnight, through the MyPitt portal until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, according to Board President Mike Nites. T...