Union Board revamps during centennial year

Every year brings change for the Union Board.

This year, though, the Board is celebrating its centennial with a revamped focus. The organization has been making an effort to bring in new and diverse opportunities to students and be more of an advocate for students.

John Whittenberger founded the Union Board as a men’s union in 1909 as a way to bring the community together, and later it expanded to represent all of the students on campus.

Current Union Board president Andrew Dahlen considers this level of ingenuity something the Union Board strives for every year.

“I see us fulfilling our mission to the campus,” Dahlen said. “I do also think this year has been different. We have seen a lot of success in terms of diversity of programs and attendance at the programs.”

Union Board has also been more aggressive on campus issues. Dahlen has been pushing student organizations to back a proposal that would allow students to use meal points in the Union.

Dahlen believes that the centennial year is an important milestone for the organization. He added that there will be a private reunion celebration. Dahlen said he expects more than 300 alumni and guests to attend.

“This campus has 40,000 students and we have to program for every single one of them,” said Justine Carlotta, director of Canvas, the Union Board’s student art magazine. “A lot of our mission is to provide students with different ways to express themselves while creating an atmosphere to come together.”

This past year, Carlotta hosted Canvas’ first lecture with graphic novelist Scott McCloud, she said. She added that they filled up the entire Whittenberger Auditorium and had some people standing.

“I wanted to give more students an educational and expressive experience,” Carlotta said, adding that Canvas can only publish so many students with two issues a year.

This upcoming issue will publish more students than any other before, Carlotta said.
Next week the board is sponsoring programs that relate to the GBLT community.

“It’s important to give the campus diverse programs,” said outreach director Faz Mahmud.