Tuesday’s Student Council meeting was the final general body meeting of the 78th term. The meeting featured updates of the year in review from outgoing executive members as well as a speech from Kenyon R. Bonner, vice president and chief student affairs officer, who reflected on his experience working with this student organization. The Council also passed three resolutions — the first to limit vehicular traffic on McCormick Road, the second to send out a feedback form to students regarding snow safety and the third to approve four new Contracted Independent Organizations, including University Guides Services, a former Special Status Organization.
In her end of term presentation to the Council, Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez, president and fourth-year College student, discussed the establishment of the Capital Campaign which aims to raise money for Student Council financial self-sufficiency. Mendoza Gonzalez also mentioned the extension of President Jim Ryan’s funding to the Council — in which he agreed to extend his gift from fall 2023 of $250,000 per year for another two years — and the addition of a Student-Athlete seat to the representative body of Student Council.
Brookelyn Mitchell, vice president for administration and fourth-year College student, also spoke to the Council Tuesday, highlighting the high numbers of Student Council membership during this past term consisting of 132 general members who work within agencies to raise issues, eight executive members who advocate for student needs as a liaison between students and administration and 39 directors who lead committees and implement change. Mitchell also noted the increased utilization rate of this term, in which agencies utilized 64 percent of their allocated funding — a much larger percentage compared to the 2023-2024 school year when Student Council administration only used 25 percent of their budgeted funds.
Ryan Bowers, vice president for organizations and fourth-year Commerce student, noted the inefficiency of the four committees of the Student Council Organizations Branch at the start of his term, with issues he has raised at past meetings being related to CIO funding being difficult to navigate for club leaders and CIO approval taking longer than it should. He said that while there is still room for improvement, a lot of progress has been made over the course of a year regarding website management, funding applications and the delegation of responsibilities to directors.
“We were a little dysfunctional coming into this year, and I’m happy to report that we’re a lot more functional now,” Bowers said. “We’re far from perfect in a lot of ways, but we’ve had some amazing accomplishments this year.”
After hearing from Bowers, Bonner also presented, stating that he worked with Student Council on multiple occasions and noting that there are certain administrative tasks and student initiatives that require student input. One of these occasions was the search for a new University senior associate vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students — which concluded with the naming of Nicole R. Hall for the position March 5. Bonner thanked Mendoza Gonzalez at Tuesday’s meeting for her assistance and noted that Student Affairs is there to support the Council whenever necessary.
“Student Affairs is a partner, so please continue to lean on us,” Bonner said. “We are here to support the entire student experience, and Student Council is a big part of the way that we need to make sure that this is a place that students are proud of, and we’re happy to support and work side by side with you.”
Bonner also discussed the federal decisions under the new Trump administration, stating that he feels it is easy for students to believe that external changes undermine the University’s values particularly regarding the recent Board decision to dissolve the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He reiterated a recent message from Ryan following this University-wide decision, stating that every student at this University “deserves to be here and belongs here.”
Following the reflections on the past term, three resolutions passed unanimously during Tuesday’s meeting, with the first being a resolution to evaluate potential solutions to the issue of vehicular traffic on McCormick Road. Fourth-year Architecture Rep. Caleb Birnbaum sponsored this resolution stating that this road is the location of the majority of academic buildings and the road most traveled by pedestrians and bikers during the week. Birnbaum consulted old versions of The Cavalier Daily newspaper clippings and found two gates were in use from 1975 to 2015 to prevent non-credentialed automobiles from traveling down McCormick between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Birnbaum’s desire to reinstate this policy came as a result of constituents complaining that students continually block the bike lane while dropping off passengers and other students stop in the middle of the road to talk to friends out of the window of their cars.
“Virtually all students live within walking, cycling or transit distance from Grounds and although 82 percent of professors do commute by car, the vast majority of parking is not majorly accessible via McCormick Road,” Birnbaum said. “All this legislation says is that traffic is a problem along McCormick Road and that we encourage University officials to explore solutions to reimplement restrictions to vehicular traffic.”
After the meeting, Birnbaum told The Cavalier Daily that the passing of this resolution allows him to raise this issue to the University Office of the Architect — an office that works to plan, design and preserve facilities — and that the office can work to get the proper University officials involved in implementing change.
The second resolution passed during Tuesday’s meeting is a call to increase accessibility measures for students during snowstorms which was sponsored by fourth-year College Rep. Sylvia Rahim. Using Cornell University as a model, the resolution calls for a form to be sent to all students so the University Facilities team can receive feedback regarding student mobility in the snow and see if any changes in facility maintenance are necessary. Rahim discussed anecdotes from three students who ventured to class in heavy snow, all of whom agreed that walking through the snow to get to class poses extreme challenges.
“Everyone [has] their own issues regarding snowstorms at U.Va., and the goal of this resolution is to provide a preventative measure for students who have previously been negatively impacted by snow storm conditions,” Rahim said.
The final resolution passed during Tuesday’s meeting approved four new CIOs, including the University Guides Service which was a Special Status Organization at the University until it was suspended in Aug. 2024 and terminated in Feb. 2025, the Somali Student Organization, the Creative Care Initiative which donates activities and crafts to healthcare communities and Smiles and Spatulas which will provide cooking classes to adults with special needs.
With Tuesday being Mendoza Gonzalez’s final general body meeting as Student Council president, she made a statement thanking the hard work of Student Council members and emphasizing that her support of Student Council and her constituents has not come to an end.
“I just wanted to extend a thanks to everyone who continues to show up,” Mendoza Gonzalez said. “I’m not a fan of b–llsh–t… you guys can reach out to me tomorrow, in two years, in ten years, for anything you need. I am here for you all.”
The Council will be hosting a transition ceremony Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. to inaugurate the incoming Student Council administration, including Clay Dickerson, incoming president and third-year College Student, Princess Wuraola Olubus-Omisore, incoming vice president for administration and fourth-year College student and Michael Mitchell, incoming vice president for organizations and second-year Commerce student. The general body will convene for the first meeting of the new term Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Read More
Gregory Perryman steps into Board of Visitors role with student voices in mind
By Zackary Holt | 41 minutes agoAs the only student on the University’s governing board, Perryman will serve in an advisory capacity, attending meetings and providing input on major decisions affecting the University community.
“Co-Opting AI: Privacy” event explores the dangers of data collection
By Nina Broderick | YesterdayThis event was part of the “Co-Opting AI” public speaker series, focused on AI technology and how it interacts with society in ways ranging from language to athletics.
Allison McVey elected next UJC chair
By Grace Little | 2 days agoThe new leadership will take office on April 1, the start of the 2025-2026 Committee term, and will serve until April 1 of next year.
