The 16th Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association met for the final time Wednesday evening ahead of Election Day on March 31.

To open her final assembly meeting, UPUA President Erin Boas spoke on some final points of business and about her time within UPUA.

“All of this to say, I’m incredibly, incredibly proud of you,” Boas said to the 16th Assembly. “There’s a lot that I’m going to miss about UPUA, but what I’ll undoubtedly miss the most is the people.”

After an emotional goodbye from Boas, Vice President Najee Rodriguez gave his equally as emotional report.

“It was truly a sweet 16th Assembly, an assembly I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Rodriguez said.

Following those reports, the 16th Assembly moved into new business.

New Business

The first piece of new business discussed was Resolution #28-16 In Support of Educator’s Rights to Teach about Racism and to Oppose Anti-Critical Race Theory Legislation. The resolution opposes Pennsylvania H.B. 1532, an act introduced by Pennsylvania Representative Russ Diamond (R-102). It states that the university is “committed to becoming an anti-racist institution.”

The resolution and other advocacy materials will be relayed to the appropriate people to call for opposition to the bill. Resolution #28-16 passed unanimously.

The next resolution to be discussed was Resolution #29-16 regarding a recent University Park Student Fee Board meeting.

In the meeting, the Student Fee Board voted “no” to a hearing from UPUA representatives to potentially fund an office addressing student poverty. Boas and Rodriguez published community content with Onward State regarding this Student Fee Board meeting.

The resolution calls on the University Park Student Fee Board to hear the presentation from the Student Advisory Board on Student Poverty on the creation of an office dedicated to combating student poverty. Resolution #29-16 passed unanimously.

Bill #34-16: Funding “Nurturing Communities of Care.” The bill will provide funding for an event in partnership with the UPUA Department of Sustainability, the director of food justice, and the Student Farm Club held at the Hydroponic Greenhouse on April 8 at 3:30 p.m.

Attendees at the “Nurturing Communities of Care” event will hear from speakers about sustainability, create their own microgreen gardens, and take part in a discussion surrounding keeping communities of care and issues such as food insecurity. The bill will provide funding for event materials such as soil and seeds.

Bill #34-16 passed unanimously.

Next, the 16th Assembly moved on to discuss Bill #35-16: Funding for Sexual Violence Awareness and Prevention Gala Tabling. UPUA has hosted the Sexual Violence Prevention and Awareness (SVAP) Week since 2013 and will work with other organizations to benefit Centre Safe via an event gala. The bill provides funding in its entirety for the gala event.

Bill #35-16 passed unanimously.

The final piece of legislation for the 16th Assembly was Bill #36-16: Funding for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi Caucus Community Conference. The Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American (APIDA) Caucus, in partnership with the South Asian Law Student Association (SALSA), will host Penn State’s first community caucus on April 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The conference will include “programming designed to encourage cultural sharing, solidarity, and social justice efforts across the APIDA community.” Students, faculty, and the community are invited to attend the conference to take part in these conversations.

Bill #36-16 passed unanimously.