As the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments meets for its last time this semester, Penn State President Rodney Erickson will join them as the guest speaker.
Erickson’s speech is scheduled for Friday evening and is one of the weekend’s main events.
Erickson wrote in an email that he will remark on university issues during his speech. Time will then be allotted for him to respond to questions and comments by CCSG.
While at the CCSG weekend, Erickson would like to convey a message of support for CCSG.
“I will want to thank CCSG for their high level of engagement and leadership on student issues this year and hear ideas from CCSG for the coming year,” he wrote in an email.
This is the first time since Erickson assumed his role as president that he will speak to CCSG, CCSG President Peter Khoury said.
Khoury (senior-biology) said he expects Erickson to speak about the five promises for change he made shortly after he assumed his role as president in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case.
The five promises include reinforcing the importance of moral imperative in the Penn State community, supporting and acting on the committee’s finding in the internal investigation, providing transparency, respecting those affected by allegations of sexual assault and ensuring proper governance of the university
A question-and-answer segment between council members and Erickson will take place after his speech, Khoury said.
CCSG Vice President Justin Cortes said all council members were told in advance of Erickson’s participation in the weekend so that they would prepare questions of importance.
On Saturday, the council will host a crossfire debate between the two tickets for CCSG president and vice president.
CCSG Director of Governmental Affairs Ben Clark (junior-accounting) and Associate Director for Student Affairs Chandra Ulinfun (junior-management) are running as a presidential ticket. They will debate the other ticket, comprised of Academic Affairs Director Paul Ferrera (junior-finance) and Student Life Director Jeff Pytlewski (junior-marketing).
Khoury and Cortes (senior-advertising) said the debate will consist of a series of questions asked by each ticket to its opponent. Once the tickets have exhausted their line of questioning, members of CCSG and then members of the gallery will have a chance to ask their own questions.
Elections for president and vice president will take place after the debate.
The council will also discuss new business about a piece of legislation for adding student representation to search committees that hire new faculty members.
Cortes added that students interact with faculty members on a daily basis and should be represented on the selection committee at a local level.
