New Undergraduate Student Government executive team aims to unify student body

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The votes have been cast and the IUPUI student body has made their decision for who will lead the Undergraduate Student Government in 2020-21.

Mari Luna will serve as the president, while Karl Nkemzi was elected as vice president. Joining Luna and Nkemzi is the secretary whose preferred name is Adrian, the director of communications whose preferred name is Mana, Julia Cilleruelo as director of initiatives and Katherine Shr as treasurer.

“Our vision for the next year is to create a culture of solidarity among the student body,” said Luna. “We want to create a unified student voice to address the issues students are experiencing. As students, we have the opportunity to make this the safe and welcoming campus we deserve.”

The team’s main goal is to create a more welcoming campus for every individual that interacts with IUPUI and has identified an increased awareness in safety resources as a need. Through work with the IU Police Department and various departments, USG hopes to reduce sexual assault on campus by improving security measures in the residence halls and around campus.

In addition, Luna’s team hopes to increase diversity and international programs by making them more recognizable and publicized on campus along with tackling food insecurity. Luna and Nkemzi will aim to partner with Paws’ Pantry to find the most feasible way to ensure that they have necessary funds to keep their shelves stocked throughout the year.

The new executive team would also like to see an increase in campus involvement to better students’ college experience and will work with the Division of Student Affairs to ensure that student organizations have proper funding to host attractive events.

“Getting involved at IUPUI my first semester really helped me find a home on campus and I definitely credit it for where I am today as a student leader,” said Nkemzi.

“We are ready to get to work on addressing the issues that are affecting our student body at IUPUI,” said Luna. “We have initiatives that we will be working on with student leaders to bolster the college experience. We encourage all students to get involved in undergraduate student government because this is a chance to find out how to create change on campus.”

To learn more about IUPUI’s Undergraduate Student Government, to get involved as a senator or to attend weekly open meetings, visit The Spot or contact USG at usg@iupui.edu.