September Presidential Recap

Happy Fall Everyone!

This September has been a busy one for myself and all of UPUA, as we all get settled into the semester and get to work on a range of initiatives. This month, I once again have three highlights as well as a general update on the Hogan-Lopez Administration. Beyond that, you can access my reports that break down what I have been up to on a weekly basis. Let’s get into the Executive Town Halls, the 9/11 Memorial Service, and the Student Affairs Young Alumni Advisory Committee Networking Reception.

*President Kat Hogan speaking at the 9/11 Memorial Service*

9/11 Rose Laying Ceremony

This year, I had the privilege of participating in the 9/11 Memorial service hosted by the College Republicans in collaboration with the College Democrats. Earlier in the week, the two clubs had come together to place 2,977 American flags in front of Old Main, and at 5:00 on September 11th, community members, students, and Penn State administrators gathered. Prior to hearing remarks from President Bendapudi, Mayor Ezra Nanes, Marine Corps combat veteran Jondavid Longo, and Congressman Glen Thompson, I joined the rose laying procession where we took time to remember the Penn State Alumni who lost their lives on 9/11. I am grateful and honored to have been able to be a part of such an important event and it was great to see so many people come together, united.

First Executive Town Hall

On September 22nd, Vice President Maria Lopez and I tabled in the HUB to talk directly to you, the students, and connect our advocacy and work directly to your needs. We hope to host these town halls on a consistent basis, and will always announce when one is upcoming through our social media. At this town hall, we were able to get direct student feedback on student worker rights and minimum wage on campus, heard thoughts on reducing single use plastics and increasing compost options, and gauge opinions on Penn State’s use of Fl ock ALPRs (Automatic License Plate Readers).

In light of those discussions, I wanted to briefly share some updates and accomplishments of our administration so far. We have been spearheading sustainability focused conversations with the Board of Trustees, assessing Penn State’s comprehensive rating as well as the usage of sustainability accreditation programs like STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System). We are developing a database analysis of all the BIG TEN schools policies, and hope to keep Penn State #1 in sustainability. We’ve been in conversations with representatives from Canva and university administrators to support progress towards Canva Pro for all students, and had a discussion with Provost Sotiropoulos in the first meeting of the Student Advisory Committee on AI. We will be coming out with more status updates across our scope, so stay tuned for that!

Student Affairs Young Alumni Advisory Committee Networking Reception

On September 18th I attended the inaugural Student Affairs Young Alumni Advisory Committee (SAYAAC) Network Reception. The SAYAAC is chaired by Sydney Gibbard, a former UPUA president from the 17th assembly. The committee is composed of a number of recent Penn State graduates across a range of diverse fields that are involved with Student Affairs to provide feedback and recent experiences to support new opportunities to better the student experience. They also serve as a point of reference for exploring the transition from student to real careers. The committee members represent students who were engaged with on campus leadership, and bring a former understanding of Penn State’s operations as well as a long history of leadership and commitment to Penn State. The reception was hosted as the committee visited University Park for the first time, and connected the various members with current student leaders. I was thrilled to meet the SAYAAC and loved getting to connect with past UPUA alumni such as Emily Miller – Speaker of the Assembly in 10th Assembly and Giselle Concepcion – Vice President in the 19th Assembly, as well as Bryan Culler – Student Trustee from 2019 to 2021. It was insightful to get to reflect on past activism experiences and see how we can implement these learnings moving forward.