Jameson Champion
News Editor
On April 5, Florida Southern’s Student Government Association held its semesterly Town Hall meeting in-person on Mr. George’s Green.
This is the first time that an SGA Town Hall has occurred in-person since the Spring 2020 semester. This allowed the Student Government and college executives a chance to directly address the issues on the minds of many students at FSC.
An important announcement made by FSC President Dr. Anne Kerr were the new expansions to Florida Southern that will improve the school’s current programs. These expansions include new rooms for the Roberts Academy at FSC including a robotics lab, gym, media room and a climbing wall for the students.
FSC’s $6 million donation to the Polk Museum of Art was also among the expansions mentioned. Dr. Kerr announced that the expansion will include six new galleries, including a dedicated photography collection.
“Those of you who want to be museum directors,” Dr. Kerr said, “you are going to have an experience second to none.”
There were two new disciplines within the engineering track in the Computer Science Department which were also announced.
Junior Journeys were also announced to be returning next year, with priority placed on students who are closer to graduating. A travel stipend is also available to students who missed their chance to go on Junior Journeys, dispensed through the Travel Office.
The FSC executive panel stressed at this meeting that, while Florida Southern had admitted its largest Freshman class this year, its primary focus was to expand graduate programs while maintaining a steady undergraduate class.
The panel also emphasized that students who had questions about problems like maintenance should not wait until Town Hall, but that the doors to campus executives like Dean of Students Mike Crawford or the Director of Campus Safety Eric Rauch are open for students to discuss problems.
The Director of Food Services, Tim Raible, took the opportunity to discuss student’s questions on the school’s food options. While students will still not be able to pour their own drinks due to hygiene concerns, free refills will be provided to students at FSC venues. The school will also be seeking a new food truck with healthier options to be located next to The Happy Place, which recently moved to the Branscomb Auditorium.
Many students’ questions regarding dining on campus were rooted in the school’s understaffing. Tim Raible stated that Pretzelmaker had the most difficult time due to its items being difficult to make, while the Healthy Blend Deli was relying on pre-made items, both due to a lack of employees. To combat this, Raible and the SGA have paired to start a hiring campaign on Instagram to bring FSC students into the foodservice staff.
The meeting ended with Mike Crawford officially announcing the plans for this year’s annual Fair-Well Festival. The event will be structured much like last year’s, with attractions spread across campus. New additions to this year’s festival were also announced.
“We will have some roving performers,” Crawford said. “We have some new rides, we have a much larger ferris wheel… we’ll have bumper cars, we’ll have all sorts of fun stuff.
