NC State Student Government kicked off a regular program by holding its first town hall of the school year Thursday, asking students, “What can Student Government do for you?” and laying the ground rules for future town halls throughout the year.
Student Government plans on hosting these town halls regularly every month, with each one focusing on a different theme.
It was made clear that future town halls will work very differently than this one due to the nature of the conversation. Student Body President Paul Nolan explained that this meeting was just an introductory event to show students what form these town halls will follow during the year.
“This was an informational session, so this town hall is going to look a lot different from the rest of them,” Nolan said. “But hopefully students found some value in learning at least a little bit more about Student Government.”
Nolan explained that the idea to host these forums on a regular basis was modeled after the success of a racial climate town hall held last January, which discussed public opinion after a “CMT v. BET” party inspired debate across campus.
The event started with an explanation of the rules and an introduction of some members of the executive branch of Student Government. This introduction and most of the town hall was led by the director of diversity outreach, Timira Conley, who acted as the moderator of the event.
The rules, which will be enforced for every town hall this year, include that a person may draw only from personal experiences, they may only speak in the first person, they are limited to two minutes of speaking time, they may not speak unless called upon and only one person may talk at a time.
Nolan explained that the purpose of these events is to ensure that students have more opportunities to tell Student Government representatives about their concerns.
This sentiment was echoed by Conley, who stressed the importance of clear communication between students and Student Government.
“It is very important to increase the dialogue between Student Government, faculty and administration, and our general student body,” Conley said.
The conversation started with Nolan answering general questions about himself and his position, then went into some executive board members describing new programs Student Government is implementing and ended with questions from the floor.
“I found value in kind of being a voice and an advocate for students who may not have those outlets to communicate what they’re feeling to either the administration or to the institution as a whole,” Nolan said while describing why he got involved with Student Government.
Meredith Biechele, executive assistant for Student Government, described a new program being enacted by the Nolan/Stafford administration called WTF NC State.
WTF NC State is a feedback forum where students can submit their ideas on a Google Form, and Student Government can see the input immediately.
Biechele explained this initiative as a streamlined process for students to submit ideas to Student Government for improvement within the organization.
There is an option on the form that students may select if they want their concerns to be addressed during a future town hall.
After the explanation of how students can get involved with different branches of Student Government, the floor was opened for questions from the general student body. This public forum will be the main focus of the future town halls.
“I feel like this is really something we need to do,” said Amani Manning, a senior studying political science, describing the importance of these town halls. “It’s very progressive.”
The next town hall has already been planned for Sept. 29. It will focus on racial climate, diversity and inclusion on campus.