Transcript: Student Government
Hello Comets! My name is Kruthi Kanduri and I am your current Student Government President.
It is my pleasure and a significant honor to be able to speak on behalf of our Student Body today.
As SG President and a Comet myself, the biggest shift I see in this campus is in our community.
Not only are we rebuilding and reimagining our wonderful in-person traditions such as orientation, Weeks of Welcome, and other long-withstanding events but we are also coming together to make our University a more positive and active one.
Currently, we are an undergraduate body of seniors who were in-person before the pandemic, juniors who started out completely virtual, and underclassmen who started their Comet journey in a hybrid and post-COVID world.
Each student here has gone through their own journey of growth and now serves as a resource and guide for all those who will come after them.
2022 is a significant year because while it does mark a new generation of campus culture, it also signifies growth.
We are experiencing growth in our numbers as well as growth in our campus structure, campus traditions, and more.
At the end of the last year, we merged our School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication and our School of Arts and Humanities to create our School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
This merger is one of many new changes that mark a significant shift within the University.
Also included in this shift is the construction of exciting new additions on campus such as the Crow Museum Expansion and Athenaeum, which promises to become a haven where students can appreciate the arts.
Most recently, the student population voted YES to build a brand-new Student Union, which is representative of our growing University. And with the growth of the University, we also see a growth in Student Government.
As of today, we are almost at a full Senate of 75 active members who are eager to represent their constituents (that’s all of you!) and work on projects to improve student life and impact the student experience.
While we grow as a university, we are also setting records and breaking ceilings. We are one of three Texas public universities to be ranked in the US News list of the top 100 US public universities, and according to Forbes, we are also ranked the #1 Best Value University in all of Texas.
We achieved these rankings while still in the pandemic, working asynchronously, online, and in hybrid modalities.
Excited doesn’t even begin to cover the way I feel when I think of all the ceilings we’ll break this year.
Student Government is also dedicated to breaking ceilings this year and is focused on being the most efficient and representative version of ourselves.
In 2022, we eliminated the GPA requirement to be a Senator and passed multiple resolutions representing the student voice regarding the hybrid education modality.
Additionally, we brought brand-new initiatives to campus such as the Blank Space project that brought student art to the forefront of the Student Union walls as well as our Women in Leadership event that connected women leaders across the student body, administration, faculty, and local government. This year, we hope to not only increase student engagement but also increase transparency and make campus resources for students easily accessible.
Before I pass the mic to President Benson, I urge each and every student to remember that Student Government is your voice and we serve you. If you have any feedback, ideas, concerns, or questions – let us know as that’s what helps us grow and become better representatives for you. And at the end of the day, that will always be our first and foremost responsibility.