Ben Miller
Layout Editor
Franciscan University Student Government (FUSG) hosted session six of its constitutional convention at noon Sunday, March 27, in Egan 219 to discuss student organization partnerships, specifically by establishing an ambassador for Exc!te.
The session was originally intended to be the closing session Saturday, March 26, but was delayed until Sunday after a packed day left student government exhausted.
The session was attended by eight members of FUSG, including senior President Alex McKenna, senior Treasurer Molly Propson and senior Sen. Jonathan Meinholz.
Junior Madeleine Van Haute, Exc!te’s vice president of marketing and media, also attended the session.
The session opened with McKenna questioning Van Haute on what Exc!te is and what its goal as an organization is.
Van Haute said that Exc!te is a student-run organization that hosts events on campus for students. She said Exc!te hosts open meetings every Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the J.C. Williams Center’s St. Margaret Room.
The structure of Exc!te includes five paid positions, but otherwise functions with volunteers, Van Haute said.
McKenna asked whether Exc!te caters to student concerns and said that the mission of FUSG is more focused around serving students than Exc!te’s mission.
Van Haute said that Exc!te is geared towards student interests. She said all Exc!te meetings are open to the public and that many events this academic year were proposed by students, giving Wisconsin Fest, Franciscan Voice and the recent Patriots Dance as a few examples.
McKenna repeatedly said that that hosting events was necessary for FUSG publicity.
Meinholz disagreed with McKenna.
“With some exceptions,” Meinholz said, “Exc!te tends to have precedent in hosting large events, rather than student government.”
Van Haute agreed with Meinholz.
“FUSG should host various smaller events,” Van Haute said, “but it is not critical … for FUSG to be hosting larger events.”
The convention ended with both groups agreeing to work towards furthering communication between the two groups.
Sen. Naomi Tatro, graduate student, pitched the idea of having a student government representative attend Exc!te meetings for the rest of the semester to better understand how the group functions.
Van Haute agreed with the suggestion and said that it would promote better communication between the two groups.
After Tatro briefly suggested a merger between the two, Van Haute said that, while Exc!te is open to more communication, it is not open to being under FUSG’s administration.
After Van Haute left the session, FUSG voted to codify a new position of Exc!te Ambassador, which was presented to the senate Monday and voted on Wednesday.