THE TOWNSEND Harris Student Union held its first Townsend Hall Meeting led by the Student Union executive board members on December 5.

The Townsend Hall Meeting asked the student population to voice their opinions, concerns, and present their ideas. The idea of the meeting came about when it became “apparent and vocalized that the SU Executive Board wasn’t displaying any leadership and making efforts to the meet the students’ needs and wants,” said SU president Karen Su.

“The board members were elected by the student body to serve as its liaison to the administration and to be representatives of the student’s consultative council.  If we don’t know what concerns are going around then the chances of it being brought to the attention of the consultative council is unlikely,” she states.

As a result, having a public forum would give SU members the opportunity to have a direct way of learning about student thoughts and views.

Despite high hopes, there was a low turnout, with only a handful of students attending the meeting.

Nevertheless, a range of issues were presented and discussed. Topics that were discussed included making restroom arrangements for students who don’t associate with a gender, using the televisions in the cafeteria to show movies and events during lunch, a planned SU event in giving out food to students, and a proposed Hawk It Out style Townsend TV show in collaboration with Mr.Wood.

Sarah Oberlander, the Coordinator of Student Activities, notes that because it was the first meeting of its kind, it was difficult to get students to attend. They discussed ways to  get more people to attend by sending out more announcements, emails and SU letters.

Even with a low turnout, the SU Board will continue to have a meeting at the end of each marking period. Karen states that the board wants to make themselves as available to the student body as possible regardless of the turnout each time.