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Syracuse University students reported mold in food from the university’s dining halls in Student Association’s anonymous reporting form, members said during SA’s meeting Monday.

Students submitted the complaints to the online form “No Problem Too Small”. Will Treloar, SA’s speaker of the assembly, said that the majority of responses to the form, which launched in early October, have focused on discoveries of mold.

SA members plan to take trips to campus dining halls with the Food Safety System Certification organization, a group that reviews the standards of food safety management systems globally. SA will have the opportunity to see SU’s food safety process firsthand and better communicate information about food services to students. Treloar said the trips will be educational.

“We’re going to see … all of the stop-gates that are in place,” Treloar said. “This is a chance for us to get to understand the process better so we better communicate that to students and better advocate.”

The form, which SA initially posted on its Instagram page on Oct. 16, gives students the opportunity to report concerns regarding on-campus life, academics and accessibility.

Treloar said SA is looking for submissions reflecting a wider variety of student concerns like food services, housing, academics and accessibility.

“The more responses we get, the better feedback we’re able to provide to administrators, and again, they don’t really listen to us all the time,” Treloar said. “When we’re able to aggregate student voices, we can better represent them.”

The assembly also elected Jordan Ferguson, a sophomore accounting major in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, to its finance board by an overwhelming majority.

SA’s 12-member finance board is responsible for allocating revenue from the student activity fee to registered student organizations. The board also votes on budgets, prepares audits and evaluates events.

Ferguson said he hopes to use his role on the finance board to improve relations with student organizations and ensure open conversations on campus.

Applications are still open for the 7 remaining finance board vacancies. SA will evaluate the petitions on a rolling basis, according to the SA website.

Other Business:

Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves gave public comment on SU’s Guiding Operative Plan, which will focus on the potential ramifications of two cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The United States Supreme Court is poised to hear the cases, which could result in the court banning affirmative action.

“We’re trying to plan now for a worst-case scenario,” Groves said, “What would we be prepared to do? What would we do to combine the laws and make the change?”

Groves also spoke about provisions for due process within SU’s Code of Student Conduct, as well as about university housing plans and private funding collection efforts to benefit low-income students.

SA’s first Harvest Festival is set to take place on Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Women’s Building field. The event will feature games, pumpkin painting and activity booths. SA will provide free food for the first 500 student attendees.

Comments from undergraduate students about the honorary degree revocation process are due Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. through a Google form. SA will compile student-submitted recommendations into a report to review with the Chancellor’s executive team and the University Senate. SA will later present the report to the Board of Trustees at its next meeting in November.

Published on October 25, 2022 at 2:02 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu