It’s the first week of spring semester and the UPUA is officially back in session. Last night, the assembly met at in 302 HUB to discuss their plans for the few months left before election season kicks into gear.

President Gavin Keirans welcomed everyone with an update on what he and others have been working on recently, including the extension of White Loop hours, a revised governing structure for the IT Fee, and a new strategic plan to move the UPUA forward. He also expressed his grief for the fact that this would be his last semester as president of the UPUA.

Keirans explained that after what were probably fantastic and fun-filled negotiations, the UPUA and CATA came to an agreement to extend the White Loop until 4:30 am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The extension will use $11,040 of the money original set aside for the Greek Loop. Less well known is that as part of the agreement, two “ambassadors” will be available during the extended hours to act as a sort of liaison between CATA and the UPUA. I’d like to give a special shout out to the members of the various student organizations, including the UPUA itself, who volunteer to be CATA ambassadors. It sounds a lot like sitting on a bus in a suit with a bunch of drunk kids at four in the morning. In fact, that might be exactly what it is. God bless you.

And speaking of students going beyond their call of duty, the assembly also unanimously passed a resolution that would establish an Academic Leadership Award for students outside of organizations contributing to the academic experience at Penn State. Woo!

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