By Max Prinz
Leaders of the four major student governments, USG, CAB, CSA and RHA, offered the latest updates on their work at the first Student Life Council meeting of the semester this past Wednesday. SLC had a packed agenda, but one of the highlights of the meeting was the vote to write a statement of support for the Students for Fair Trade.
Students for Fair Trade, a club that operates in cooperation with the Fair Trade Program of the Gabelli School of Business, sought support to help bolster its efforts in persuading the university to make a statement committing to Fair Trade. United Student Government passed its own statement of support in November of 2013.
Students for Fair Trade (SFT) was represented at SLC by two students, Tiffany Melillo, GSB ’15, and Michael Billotti, GSB ’15, who serve as the club’s president and vice president, respectively.
Both believe the statement of support would help them as they seek to make Fordham a Fair Trade university. Fordham already meets four of the five criteria laid out for achieving Fair Trade status, and the fifth, a resolution passed through by the Board of Trustees or the President’s office, is SFT’s goal.
“The resolution essentially acknowledges that Fair Trade is here and that it is good,” Billotti said. “The point of the resolution is to raise awareness about Fair Trade.”
“It’s a sustainable way to fight poverty,” Melillo added. “Instead of just putting a band aid on the problem where you’re giving out food, it’s coming from the bottom.”
SLC moved onto updates after voting to support SFT. Nevin Kulangara, USG’s executive president, presented his key initiative, Fordham Student Holdings, which would be an official campus club that would oversee student-run businesses on campus.
“Currently there isn’t any provision in the student handbook that governs student-run businesses at Fordham University,” Kulangara said. “Businesses provide a lot, add an extra dimension to our campus culture, but how do we monitor them in a way so that we’re not inconveniencing students and everything is sort of transparent and out in the open? That’s what FSH is about.”
The club would operate like any other on campus, with a group of faculty advisors and an executive board, renamed the “C-Suite.” Other schools, such as Georgetown and Northwestern, have similar programs already in place.
“Every single of one of these schools [with a FSH-similar program] are all top 25 universities, so this is really a chance for us to step ahead and gain a competitive advantage,” Kulangara said. “Prospective students look for a school and they might be looking for a campus that fosters an entrepreneurial spirit.”
Following USG, CAB, CSA and RHA also provided SLC with updates. CAB’s Valentine Week, CSA’s Commuter Week and Ram’s Got Talent show were all discussed.
RHA Executive Vice President CJ Cacace presented on the second annual Fordham Dance Marathon to benefit the B+ Foundation. FDM raised over $30,000 last year and, as of the SLC meeting, was halfway to achieving that mark again. As of this issue, RHA was 79 percent of the way to its goal.
“I’m really proud of how it’s become not just an RHA effort but really a full campus effort,” Cacace said. “We’re all working together for a really great cause.”
SLC’s next meeting will be on Wednesday Feb. 28. As always, SLC meetings are open to all students.
