The 21st Assembly of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) met on Wednesday to swear in 10 representatives, vote on two bills, elect one liaison, and discuss regular business. 

The meeting began with an open student forum led by two Movin’ On members. They announced that no one had been nominated for the Movin’ On liaison, then explained the role and encouraged nominations. 

Next, Days for Girls (DFG) liaison Nicole Estes gave a presentation. Estes explained that DFG is working to destigmatize period poverty and address the crisis women face because of it. Estes then described DFG International’s mission to expand access to menstrual care and education.

Estes detailed what DFG does at Penn State, such as providing free product stations, donations, guest speakers, collaborations, and other projects. She also explained DFG’s collaboration efforts with UPUA in the past year, including a residence hall project where DFG provided free menstrual products to West Halls.

Estes finished her presentation by explaining the goal to expand access to residence halls with permanent product dispensers.

This presentation was followed by another presentation from THON Hospitality Sustainability chair Emily Kulak. Kulak explained the sustainability efforts already happening within THON. Kulak then detailed the role of Hospitality Sustainability, discussing leftover tracking, meal planning, food donations, and the reusable water system, QuenchBuggy.

The QuenchBuggy is a mobile water refill station that supports reusable water bottles and saved over 30 gallons of water last year. UPUA has supported this initiative for the past few years, and Kulak is hoping to work with the Bryce Jordan Center staff to get the QuenchBuggy onto the concourse in future years.

Following reports from President Kat Hogan and Vice President Maria Lopez, the assembly moved into swearing-ins. 

Swearing-Ins & Confirmations

The confirmation of Associate Justice Sam Haason started off the swearing-ins. Haason explained that he felt that UPUA was the backbone of Penn State.

“I loved hearing about what they [the judicial committee] stood for, playing a role in keeping UPUA unbiased and fair,” Haason said. He then continued to explain his passion for the election process, which he participated in last year. 

The confirmation of Associate Justice Deven Patel followed. Patel discussed his campus involvement, including three years with UPUA, as well as his legal internships and part-time jobs with local and federal government. The assembly then discussed the two associate justices. After that, there was a vote to confirm one or both of the associate justices. 

There were 10 swearing-ins for the night, including Programming Director of STEW Saeleth Sutton, Deputy Director of Finance Jaden Quinones and Yash Vadhar, Director of Legislative Budget Will Presby, APIDA Representative Katelyn Jassal, Director of Data Analytics Krishay Sachdeva, MGC Representative Emmalin Kresse, Executive Staff for MGC Elizabeth Haddad, and Associate Justices Deven Patel and Sam Haason.

After the swearing-ins, the election of the Movin’ On liaison was postponed until the next meeting due to a lack of nominees. Next on the agenda was new business.

New Business

First up was Bill #09-21: Suicide Prevention Tabling. This bill requested UPUA funding for tabling. One notable aspect of the tabling is raffles, with proceeds going to the cause.

Bill #09-21: Suicide Prevention Tabling passed unanimously. 

Following this was Bill #10-21: THON 5k 2026 Water Distribution System. This bill discussed funding the QuenchBuggy as a more sustainable practice for the university and THON as a whole. The funding is all UPUA needs to do; the company and THON workers do the “heavy lifting.” 

Bill #10-21: THON 5k 2026 Water Distribution System passed unanimously.