Syracuse University Student Association President James Franco and Vice President Angie Pati said they’ve prioritized health, wellness and safety in their initiatives this semester.

Here’s a breakdown of what the SA leaders have accomplished this fall:

Health and wellness

Pati planned the second annual Mental Health Awareness Week this year in collaboration with Active Minds and the Office of Health Promotion. She said the event is a permanent SA initiative.

“I think that a lot of the evidence I have of its success is anecdotal,” Pati said. “It was like little responses to my emails or to James’ emails being like, ‘This is really cool,’ and  ‘Thanks for doing this.’”

Pati has also taken steps to create a peer listening service and a mental health crisis text line. She said the peer listening service would ideally be active by the end of May, but realistically it may begin next academic year.

The population of potential users for the crisis text line must be at least 35,000 people, Pati said, and SU has a population of just more than 20,000 students. Pati said she’s reached out to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the State University of New York at Oswego and Le Moyne College to partner for the program.

Franco and Pati also said they’re happy with SA’s responses to unplanned crises, such as the mumps outbreak on campus.

The vice president said she and Franco received emails from concerned students asking SA to send them home because they were worried about getting mumps. While the organization could not transport students off campus, Franco and Pati immediately decided to bridge the communication gap about the epidemic, she said.

Pati collaborated with SU Health Services, Vision for Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurship Club to create “Bump the Mumps,” an event to promote healthy habits such as washing hands, disinfecting surfaces and refraining from sharing food and beverages. The SA Assembly passed a motion to fund $200 for a Snapchat filter for the event.

Pati said the organization planned to tackle health and wellness issues. When crises such as the mumps and hurricanes Harvey and Irma occurred, SA was able to shift its focus in ways that helped the student body.

Hurricane relief

SA members worked with Hendricks Chapel to plan two relief trips to Puerto Rico and Houston to alleviate damage from hurricanes Irma and Harvey. SA has also donated $12,000 to relief organizations aiding areas affected by the natural disasters.

Transportation and safety

Franco said he has been working on a ride-sharing partnership. SA piloted a partnership with Uber earlier this semester, which gave 1,000 students a $10 coupon to use on an Uber ride. The $10,000 worth of coupons were claimed within seven hours of the project’s launch.

Franco and Pati said they’ve also been working with SU administrators to create a Euclid Avenue shuttle, a long-term project they hope to pilot early next semester.

Sports

Franco said this semester was the first time SA has partnered with SU Athletics to providing 1,000 tickets to students who would not have them otherwise for the SU football game against No. 1 ranked Clemson.

“Whether it’s the Uber at the beginning of the year that got students really excited … or whether it be the 1,000 tickets for the Clemson game,” Franco said. “These are the things I think have a tangible difference.”

Published on December 4, 2017 at 10:32 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert