IUSA remembers semester

With two-thirds of its time in office already through, the IU Student Association’s Big Six Administration is pleased with its progress, Co-Chief of Staff Megan Lillie said.

“We’re going to take a step back over break and take a look at what we want to do on campus over the next few months,” Lillie said. “We’re excited for the last four months, but we’re also very proud of what we’ve done in the last eight.”

One of the most exciting surprises was how well the Freshman Internship Program went this semester, Lillie said.

“We’re helping them get acclimated to campus, learn about how IUSA works and learn about getting involved on campus,” she said.

Inspired by the idea of the internship program, Lillie said IUSA will focus next semester on how the organization can invest in students’ future skills.

The exact nature of this goal is still in development but will include a way to invest both time and money into making solid campus leaders and to better connect students with campus resources.

Other plans, which are still in the discussion stages, include campus safety, mental health and sexual assault prevention programs and events.

“This semester has been, by far, one where we learned a lot,” Lillie said of the last few months. “A lot has come up this semester.”

During the summer, the IUSA Congress voted to donate an emergency $5,000 to the IU Helene G. Simon Hillel Center’s fund to search for Lauren Spierer. IUSA was also one of the organizations that helped organize and manpower searches for the missing IU student.

In September, the student government and many other campus organizations collaborated to create the Shine4Lauren Awareness Concert.

“It’s not just having, per se, specific programs, but responding to current issues,” Lillie said. “There have been many collaborations with other student organizations. That’s been the most surprising part and maybe even the best part.”

Lillie also highlighted IUSA’s ongoing push for tax-free textbooks and an Indiana Lifeline Law. The law would be a statewide version of Hoosier P.A.C.T, a campus alcohol use response policy — which IUSA fought to implement in September — that encourages students to seek medical attention in cases of alcohol overconsumption.

The semester has not been without its setbacks. IUSA’s biggest challenge, in regard to its larger initiatives, has been time, as both of the statewide initiatives are long-term projects with many intermediate steps.

“We were unsure about how much we would be able to get done with those initiatives this year,” she said. “Time is a huge setback in terms of our initiatives. It’s something that, on a few of our projects, we didn’t expect them to happen as soon as they did.”

IUSA was disappointed when IU learned in November it had lost its bid to host a 2012 presidential debate. IUSA devoted time and energy to the project, hosting the Commission on Presidential Debates on campus, garnering the support of other Big Ten Schools and aiding in planning of a potential debate.

Despite the downsides, Lillie believes IUSA is in a good place.

“I think we’re on track with what we’ve set out to do initially,” she said.

-Matthew Glowicki