Administrators respond to student concerns about commencement

Izabela Gage / THE GATEPOST

By Bella Grimaldi News Editor SGA held their second Administrators’ Forum of the academic year, providing club representatives, among other students, with the opportunity to voice their campus concerns on April 7. This year, the forum was structured differently, as there was time allotted for administrators to ask questions to students. This new segment was in addition to the portion of the meeting at which Luke Yubeta, SGA student trustee, posed pre-submitted questions to the panel of administrators. Each of these segments was allotted 20 minutes, followed by time for open forum questions or concerns from students. The administrators in attendance included President Nancy Niemi; Provost Kristen Porter-Utley; Meg Nowak Borrego, vice president for Student Affairs; Robert Totino, vice president of Finance, Technology, and Administration; Iris Godes, vice president of Enrollment Management; Lorretta Holloway, vice president of Student Success; Jeffrey Coleman, vice president of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement; Eric Gustafson, vice president of Development and Alumni Relations; and Erin Nechipurenko, Vice President of Legal and Government Affairs. Other members of executive offices who attended were Ryan Hacker, associate vice president of Facilities and Capital Projects; Glenn Cochran, assistant vice president of Student Affairs; Stephanie Crane, director of Residence Life and Housing; Michael Newmark, director of Dining Services; Carey Eggen, deputy director of Athletics; and FSUPD Sergeant Harpreet Singh. Senior Ava Renée Gagne raised her concerns about the selection of the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony speaker. She said despite the withdrawal of the previously announced speaker, Nelson Peña de Jeśus, this is still an important matter to be discussed. Peña de Jeśus, the president of the Global Culinary Kitchen with Nestlé, withdrew because of his “concern that the attention surrounding his participation could distract from what should be a joyful and celebratory moment for the Class of 2026,” according to an email from Niemi. Gagne said, “Commencement speakers should celebrate academic achievement and the triumph of students from many walks of life who have overcome the odds and adversities to be here. “I’m here to ask the administration to consider the implications of our choices of speakers going forward - what it signals about our values, especially,” she said. Niemi responded, “I can’t argue with anything you said, and I don’t intend to.” She said the motivation behind selecting Peña de Jeśus was to celebrate the legacy of Ruth Graves Wakefield, the creator of the chocolate chip cookie. Niemi said, “I want to take responsibility for that. … The Commencement Committee had nothing to do with it.” She said other potential speakers had turned down the offer. “Then Nestlé showed up and said, ‘Well, yes,’ and so that’s the path we took.” She added, “I’ve been trying to get Nestlé’s attention, because I would like them to contribute to our University as a result of owning the recipe that we have.” Niemi said the University is actively looking for a replacement speaker and she welcomes suggestions from members of the FSU community. She said the main difficulties with finding a speaker is the University does not pay commencement speakers for their participation and there is now a time limit with commencement coming up on May 23. “We’ll figure out how to have a commencement speaker worthy of your walking across the stage for,” said Niemi. Yubeta said the first submitted question came from a student who was previously a commuter who asked if there was a way for the University to designate an area for students who do not live on campus that is only accessible by ID. Totino said this concern was raised in survey responses the University received when compiling the Campus Master Plan. “We're just starting to get our hands around this multi-page document, the Campus Master Plan, to help identify what would be a really good space for commuter students,” he said. “So we're just starting to figure out what projects we're going to be tackling in years 1, 2, etc., all the way through, but we know this is something that has to be identified to have a true space for commuter students.” Yubeta said a student asked how elevator and security camera issues are being addressed. Hacker said Facilities has worked to be more proactive about elevator malfunctions by having the University’s vendor stock extras of parts that commonly fail or break. He added one of the main causes of elevator failures on campus is due to people holding the elevator without using the button to keep the doors open. “We’re going to look into [elevator] education - some signage.” Hacker said the elevator door and track sensors get clogged with debris that can put the elevator out of service. He said, “We actually did a training for our maintenance staff to be on the lookout to better clean those tracks.” Nowak Borrego said, “The cameras are a group project” because the process of buying, setting up, and installing them across campus is a collaboration through different campus departments. FSAB President Kira James asked, “How do we go about telling people that there needs to be a camera somewhere?” She said her club’s office in the McCarthy Center has had a couple of items stolen and she has filed reports through FSUPD about it. Nowak Borrego said it is important to file a police report so there is documentation of where cameras are needed and can be installed over the summer. She added if students suspect a camera is not working, to file a Facilities work order so the camera can be checked. Yubeta said a student asked if it were possible for class schedules to be provided further in advance. Porter-Utley said she has been trying to push for annual scheduling in Academic Affairs, in which schedules are made for the year instead of for the semester. She said resource constraints are one of the problems with some classes needed for graduation not being offered every semester. Niemi asked students what they would say to people at Accepted Students’ Day about their experience at FSU. Students said the close-knit community, small class sizes, connections with professors and their enthusiasm for their work, and the commuter-friendly environment at the University are all reasons they have enjoyed their time at FSU.