The 16th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association met Wednesday night for the third time in person this semester.

Earlier in the evening, UPUA representatives and other student leaders hosted a reception to meet with university trustees, senior administrative members, and UHS administrators to discuss the organization’s new Wellness Fund.

The meeting began with two special presentations from the president of Penn State’s Performing Arts Council, Brian Krall, and Ben Russell, a representative from SoftEdge.

UPUA President Erin Boas and Vice President Najee Rodriguez provided opening statements and then moved on to new business.

New Business

The first item on the agenda was the election of the Association of the Big Ten Student Liaison. This position entails communicating and working with other Big Ten student representatives in order to influence positive, progressive change at some of the largest universities in the nation.

The assembly unanimously elected Representative Nora O’Toole to the position.

The group then swore in two more at-large representatives, Benjamin Brauser and Amanda Li.

Bill 07-16 was next on the agenda. The bill entails continuing an initiative called “Red Zone Action Week” that will raise awareness about sexual assaults on campus. The initiative will provide funding for tabling in both the East and South residence halls as well as the HUB to increase the emphasis on sexual assault education and prevention.

The bill passed unanimously.

The assembly then discussed Resolution 08-17, which would require established training for UPUA members. Following the unanimous approval of the resolution, representatives will now undergo Intercultural Development Inventory Training to help improve their advocacy efforts for students across campus.

Next, Resolution 08-16 passed unanimously to honor Ben Locke, the outgoing director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

The next item on the agenda was Resolution 09-16, a resolution to create a survey in support of creating a university holiday on general election days. The results of the survey would encourage UPUA and the university to potentially create a holiday on general election days to allow students, faculty, and staff to participate at the polls.

The resolution was passed unanimously by the assembly.

The final piece of legislation was Resolution 10-16. The assembly addressed the open letter created by the Gender Equity Coalition that asks the university to release the results of a 2018 sexual misconduct survey and pursue additional sexual misconduct surveys in the future.

The resolution also asks UPUA to distribute infographics and multimedia provided by the Gender Equity Coalition that will further educate students on the topic of sexual assault.

Several assembly members used their time during the discussion to advocate for the passage of this resolution by telling personal stories about their experiences with sexual assault. There was a lot of emotion in the room, and it was clear before the vote that the majority of members were in support of the resolution.

Resolution 10-16 passed unanimously to close out Wednesday night’s meeting.