During my time as Student Body President, I have constantly tried to work with any student that has an opinion about how Student Government can improve the lives of students at UF.
This has been the case when discussing issues of promoting safe transportation for students, protecting students’ interests during the first wave of budget cuts and providing more options for late-night study areas on campus.
The issue of the rebuilding of the Reitz Union has been no different. That’s why when the first concerns were raised about the future of the building, I began talking with students about how we could best solve this issue.
This is how I first learned of the burdens our graduate assistants face at this university. While basically acting to subsidize our education here at UF, these valuable members of our community remain underpaid and overworked and are expected to help carry the load of teaching for our esteemed faculty with little recognition.
They deserve better. That’s why I will be proposing at the next Board of Trustees Meeting that all UF students classified as graduate research assistants and teaching assistants who receive tuition waivers be exempt from any future fees that may be levied for the rebuilding of the Reitz Union.
While working for the university, graduate assistants have only seen their fees increase, a trend that is likely to continue without a major shift in policy.
In order to counter this, I also plan to insist on pay raises for graduate assistants to help ease the burden of existing fees. It has been demonstrated to me that these students, who essentially teach about half of the classes at UF, contribute a substantial amount to this university. If UF is to remain the first-rate university that is, we have to do more for our graduate students.
However, our mission to rebuild the Reitz Union has not changed.
We all know that the Reitz Union will need drastic repairs along with substantial expansion to accommodate the growing needs of our student body. A student fee, coupled with private donations and state funding, is the most viable option to do this.
Tomorrow’s student union will benefit graduate students and undergraduates alike while providing more space to study, gather, meet and eat.
We will take a union built for a student body of 19,000 in the 1960s and turn it into today’s heart of The Gator Nation.
Our new student union will exemplify a place where a diverse Student Body of today and tomorrow can interact, learn and experience campus life.
I did not come to this decision easily, and I want to thank everyone who engaged me in this discussion about the future of the Reitz Union. This includes the leaders in the graduate student and undergrad communities with whom I met over the past few months.
Now, I would like to challenge you, the Student Body, to engage in this debate over rebuilding the union.
It is my honest belief that you will come to the same conclusion that I have: It is time to invest in the Reitz Union and time to improve the student experience for our entire Student Body.
Go out and ensure your voice is heard by voting in the spring SG elections. Go Gators!
