This October, Oakland University Student Congress (OUSC) has led many initiatives on campus.
On Oct. 27, OUSC hosted a Meet the Reps event in The Habitat. Students were encouraged to learn about OUSC, what they do and who their student representatives are. All attendees were provided free OUSC spirit wear at the event.
Meet the Reps connected students with their student representatives so the representatives could learn about ideas and concerns from the general student body. This event placed OUSC representatives in a better place to advocate for student interests in the future.
“The legislature had our Meet the Reps event, which was super exciting. Meet the Reps is an event that we’ve built for the legislature to be able to plan, design and execute all without any major external help from the Executive Board. It went really well with lots of turnout from the students,” Emma Garrett, the OUSC speaker of the legislature, said.
Campus sustainability was one of OUSC’s primary initiatives because October is Sustainability Month.
Katya Eskander, the OUSC director of sustainability, planned several engaging events for Sustainability Month. Eskander’s Sustainability Town Hall and Sustainability Showcase events were especially well attended.
The Sustainability Showcase event, held on Oct. 30, invited individual students to present their research on sustainability. Student organizations were also invited to the event to educate the community about their group’s sustainable initiatives.
On Oct. 17, OUSC hosted a Civics and Succulents tabling event. OUSC representatives handed out succulents and voter information to students passing by at the front of the Oakland Center.
Eskander planned a campus plog on Oct. 27. The event invited community members to jog around campus while picking up litter.
OUSC continues its college merch exchange program, which is part of the Oakland University Swag Exchange initiative. Workers in the OUSC office will help exchange college apparel for OUSC merch. Students may send in a request to Marco Yu, OUSC’s director of marketing, to receive the service.
OUSC met for a General Body Meeting on Oct. 27. These weekly meetings allow all student members to meet and vote on bills as well as discuss future goals.
Bill C.B. 66-10, sponsored by Murryum Farooqi, OUSC president, passed. This bill reallocates and adjusts funding related to Middle Eastern Heritage Week. Uncategorized funds in OUSC funds were transferred into the Middle Eastern Heritage Week general fund under the diversity and inclusion category.
“I’m personally excited to see how much further we can go with planning more events for the students, showing up for other events like our Middle Eastern Heritage Month events, and continuing to write legislation benefiting the student body,” Garrett said.
OUSC continues to support cultural celebrations around campus, and the passing of a new bill to reallocate funds solidifies OUSC’s goal of campus inclusivity.
“I was really excited when Bill C.B. 66.10 was passed, it was the first bill I had worked on with VP Maris Ferguson,” Leann Hadeed, the OUSC director of executive platforms, said.
On Oct. 30, OUSC led a Halloween handouts event in the Oakland Center. OUSC handed out goodie bags filled with candy and voter info.
Ethan Lehman-Pace, the OUSC director of community engagement, is committed to getting students involved in sharing their voices at elections.
OUSC continues to provide free menstrual products in bathrooms. More recently, dispensers have been installed in the Engineering building.
Ryan Olds, OUSC director of student services, has devised some great systems for keeping track of usage and inventory for menstrual products to collect data on product usage so all bathrooms can be fully stocked. If a dispenser does not work, students may simply scan the QR code on the dispenser and fill out a form.
To stay up to date with OUSC initiatives, follow the group’s Instagram, @ouscofficial.
