On Tuesday, October 14th, at 5:00 pm the Student Government Association President Avantavist T. Carter and the Administration of Alcorn State University (ASU) held a Town Hall Meeting in the Student Union Ballroom.
The crowd of around 80 made up of mostly students, faculty, and staff came together to ask and receive answers to their many questions and learn of the future updates and changes coming to Alcorn.
The panelists for the Town Hall Meeting were President of Alcorn, Dr. Tracy Cook, with representatives from the different departments on campus and to welcome them were The Resilient 68 Cabinet and SGA President Carter.
The Town Hall was held to address the many concerns that attendees had about the campus and its students. One main goal that SGA President Carter had was for there to be “transparency between students and staff, student engagement, campus involvement, mental health, and safety.”
The students were able to present their questions to the panelists via a QR code that was posted in advance of the meeting so that they could voice their conners. To begin the Town Hall the panelists addressed the issue of the student activity fee by comparing the price to what other schools in the area have for their students. In doing so, the Administration explained to the students that if they want bigger and better artists and more activities on campus, they will have to vote to help raise the fee so that they can get the entertainment that they want.
Another question that was asked by the students was how the Administration could improve on allowing authorized guests on campus and the Administration pitched the idea of an online visitor card system where a student could schedule when their guest would be arriving on campus, so that they wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of the current check-in system. The Administration went on the elaborate by stating that the visitor card system would be designed where a student would be able to have a gold card but for their guest that identifies who they are just like the current gold cards do for the students.
With numerous questions from the spectators being unanswered the Administration decided to follow up the Town Hall with a Chat and Chew. The Chat and Chew will take place in the Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr. Dining Facility on October 15th at 12:00 pm where the Administration will meet with different students to have one-on-one conversations about what they could do to make Alcorn better.
