To engage student organization leaders in important conversations about administrative operations, the DePauw Student Government (DSG) conducted its first General Assembly for the academic year at the Union Building Ballroom on Sept. 27.
DSG President Paige Burgess ‘25 initiated the meeting by introducing their 2023-2024 executive board:
- President: Paige Burgess
- Executive Vice President: Eli Federman
- Chief of Staff: Kalina Dickinson
- Vice President of Allocations: Madison Montero
- Vice President of Academic Affairs: Molly Venus
- Vice President of Community Relations: Nicholas Pease
- Vice President of Equity and Justice: Emi Kapusta
- Vice President of Programming: Micaiah Furbert
- Vice President of Public Relations: Sydney West
- Vice President of Student Life: Vy Nguyen
- Creative School Senator: Katherine Steele
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator: Eli VanHaaren
- School of Business Senator: Benjamin Weidner
- Class of '24 Senators: Carlos Hillman and Meredith Sierpina
- Class of '25 Senators: Katherine Field and Jacob Kissling
- Class of '26 Senators: Eli Anderson and Jim McMurray
- Class of '27 Senators: Rana Saad and Mian Abdulah
Burgess then discussed how DSG is working on the maintenance of essential student services such as Tiger Transit, a free public transportation initiative launched by former DSG president James O’Keane ‘23 during the spring semester of 2023. This service, which was especially prominent among international students, was discontinued due to difficulties in finding eligible student drivers. Burgess emphasized the importance of collecting student feedback to promote transparency and discourse about other pressing on-campus issues.
Moreover, DSG surveyed student leaders about each organization’s cultural affiliation to increase participation in upcoming heritage recognition events. This was accompanied by calls for potential representatives for the Student Academic Life Committee.
Meanwhile, Sydney West ‘24, DSG’s Vice President of Public Relations, encouraged the use of their online feedback form located at the bottom of their regular emails for students to express their concerns to the administration in a professional manner. This aligns with their goal to promote collaborative and comprehensive discourse within the DePauw community.
The meeting was followed by an open discussion about students’ expectations for the new leaders of DSG. Andy Nguyen ‘27 suggested the arrangement of more social events, such as Casino Night, to encourage more interactions within the student body. On the other hand,. Membi Mtsi ‘27 pointed out the need for alternative public transportation options while Tiger Transit operations are still being discussed. “I do know that there is something called the Rural Transit, and in my opinion, it probably works just as well as Tiger Transit,” she said. “It’s a service that’s provided by the city of Greencastle, and so many students don’t know that it exists. It’s two dollars for a roundtrip, and it’s very cheap.”
On the other hand, Tanaa Jones ‘26 suggested the maximization of social media platforms to inform students about how they can contribute to DSG. “As a freshman, I didn’t know that you could be a senator or that positions [were still open], so I think expressing how you can represent your community at DePauw would be better,” she added.
Quan Nguyen ‘25 also asked how students can receive updates on administrative decisions about departmental budget cuts. Burgess pointed out that DSG intends to invite Vice President for Finance and Administration Andrea Young during their second General Assembly, which will be tentatively conducted on Oct. 31. “We will have her at one of these [assemblies] because we had her last year,” Burgess said. “I believe it was really helpful to have the financial information explained to us…so we will coordinate [with her] about that.”