Hello Oles!
We hope you’ve been settling into the Spring semester and are off to a great start in 2021. BORSC has been hard at work in the past few months, presenting at the interim Board meeting and working to bring a better understanding of the Regents to students.
On February 4th and 5th, our BORSC Chair, Fricka Lindemann ‘22 attended the Board of Regents’ interim meeting. Fricka presented about mental health on campus, with an emphasis on how COVID-19 is exacerbating mental health issues. You can view this presentation on our website. Other than one attendee suggesting that the student government should put more work into supporting students' mental health, BORSC’s presentation was well-received at the meeting. The Board has begun discussion of potentially allocating funds for more preventative mental health measures, and BORSC was invited to present again at a different committee on campus. On a different note, BORSC also confirmed that the College is not invested in private prisons, and it’s likely we’ll see more information about the College’s stance toward divestment from fossil fuels at the next Board’s meeting in May. If you want to learn more about this meeting, The Mess just released an excellent write-up, and BORSC’s own write-up is available here.
BORSC is currently engaged in a project to interview members of the Board of Regents to help students better understand the people who oversee the College. In December, BORSC members Edwin Le ‘21 and Bergen Senf ‘24 met with Jay Lund ‘21, who serves as the Chair of the Board of Regents. Lund noted that his time at St. Olaf was instrumental in his education, and he has served on the Board since 2012 to help communicate the story and benefits of St. Olaf to others. As Chair, Lund has focused on enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism on campus, the new Ole Avenue project, the eventual retirement of President Anderson and succession of college leadership, and the College’s COVID-19 response. Check out our website on Oleville to read our full summary of this interview, and stay tuned, since we’ll be interviewing even more of the Regents soon! We’ll always be posting our latest updates on our website, so be sure to check regularly to see what we’ve been working on lately!
As always, if you have any concerns or comments you’d like the College to know about, tell us! You can use this link, email us at borsc@stolaf.edu, or DM us on Instagram @borsc_stolaf. Our members meet regularly with members of the President’s Leadership Team and other College administrators, and we’d love to share your thoughts with them and work towards a better community for all.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
Board Of Regents Student Committee
Fenton Krupp ‘24
Audrey Hoehner ‘23
Bergen Senf ‘24
Claire Shaw ‘21
Dan Reiter ‘23
Edwin Le ‘21
Fricka Lindemann ‘22
Guadalupe Guerrero ‘21
Logan Graham ‘22
Modupe Botti ‘22
Phumelele Mncina ‘24
Providence Diomedi ‘23
Rayan Elahi ‘24
Sophia Waters ‘23