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Happy springtime! We hope you’re enjoying the warm weather and the budding tulips and getting ready for summer break! Not only does spring bring in new weather and flowers, but also a new student government administration and we are tremendously excited, eager, and grateful to begin this term and serve the student body.

Unlike the departing permacloud, however, we are so incredibly grateful for the past student government administration for which we are taking over. Gates, Corey and Bri have given their all to this community, and we cannot thank them enough for their work this past year and the phenomenal way they have transitioned with us. Thanks to their hard work and the hard work of their cabinet, we are well-prepared to build upon the work they’ve done to ensure that student government serves as a voice and resource for all members of the ND family.

As we’ve worked to transition with the outgoing administration, we have also worked on different upcoming initiatives and events that have overlapped our two terms. We are incredibly excited for Back the Bend and Storm the Stadium on April 27, Take Back the Night on April 25 and many other phenomenal and important events during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We have also started working with partners in the South Bend community — such as L Street Kitchen — to help bolster the Notre Dame South Bend relationship. On the policy side, we are thrilled to roll out a new Safe Bars program which will give GreeNDot Training to bartenders in the South Bend community. We also have some exciting initiatives to come in Senate.

Keep an eye on the Senate livestream — a transparency measure from Gates and Corey we’re thrilled to continue — in the coming weeks as we seek to create two new departments: the Departments of Sustainability and Student Empowerment. The Department of Student Empowerment will be focused on helping student government serve as a student resource by looking at things such as club funding, the study abroad experience, promoting student art at Notre Dame and decreasing costs for student opportunities. We are also looking forward to collaborating with the Senate to craft committees, goals and  a vision for the term to come. Finally, we are passionate about working with the Club Coordination Council to foster greater collaboration between clubs and student union organizations as well as using these organizations as a greater resource for clubs and students at Notre Dame.

Last but not least, we have started a new initiative to represent student art in the Student Government office in LaFortune, and we are so grateful for the submissions we have received. To anyone with art they would like to share, please do not hesitate to reach out!

We simply cannot express the gratitude and excitement we have for this privilege and the responsibility to serve you as we begin our term. We have been so energized by the outgoing administration, university administrators, students and community members we have met with since our election. If you are interested in working in student government in any capacity this year, do not hesitate to reach out to us via email or come visit us in 203 LaFun. We are absolutely thrilled to take office, and we cannot wait to help make the home under the dome an even greater home for all.

In Notre Dame,

Elizabeth and Pat