The 14th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association convened for its 13th meeting of the semester Wednesday night in the HUB.

Members voted to create a community group representative seat for the LGBTQA Student Roundtable in the 15th Assembly and passed legislation to fund the Fuel for Finals initiative.

To kick off the meeting, Penn State Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Rich Bundy delivered a special presentation. He thanked members of the Assembly for donating 38 gifts and raising a total of $1,815 on Giving Tuesday.

Bundy also mentioned the Tackle Hunger competition, in which Penn State beat out Ohio State and raised $213,830 in the fight against food insecurity on campus.

In the next presentation, HUB Bookstore managers Jennifer Guyer and Cathy Pacheco introduced the “First Day Complete” initiative, which aims to make textbooks more affordable to students. The inclusive access program works by incorporating a flat-discounted rate for course materials into student tuition and fees.

Guyer and Pacheco say they plan to pilot this initiative in the commonwealth, with the hopes of eventually expanding it to University Park as well.

During open student forum, State College Borough Councilman Dan Murphy gave an update on the interim mayor appointment process. Eleven applicants spoke at Council’s special meeting Tuesday night to present their interest in the position to the public. The council will appoint an interim mayor at 7 p.m. on December 16.

President of the LGBTQA Student Roundtable Freddie Purnell also spoke during this time. He urged members of the Assembly to vote in support of adding a community group seat for the LGBTQA community.

“I think it’s really important for queer students to know who they can come to, and make sure their voices are heard,” Purnell said. Several other students in attendance echoed these statements.

UPUA President Laura McKinney then gave a brief report in which she thanked members of the assembly for coming back from break energized and for organizing this year’s Mental Health and Wellness Week. She also touched on Advocate Penn State’s letter writing initiative, which aims to support an increase in Penn State’s federal funding allocation in Governor Tom Wolf’s upcoming budget plan.

Dan Corcoran was sworn in as the assembly’s IFC representative before a brief caucus breakout.

Legislation

In the first order of business of the night, the Assembly voted unanimously to create a community seat for the LGBTQA Student Roundtable. This organization first applied for a seat in September.

Bill #17-14, Fuel for Finals, involves allocating $1,570 in funding for coffee and fruit for students during finals week. Between December 15-19, UPUA will distribute more than 60 gallons of Starbucks coffee and 250 apples and bananas to students in the HUB to help them remain energized as they prepare to take finals. After plenty of back-and-forth discussion about how much fruit to purchase, the bill passed with a vote of 39-1-0.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.