SGA president Petrillo presents to UVM board

Kelsey Neubauer, Senior Staff Writer

SGA President Chris Petrillo gave his first presentation to the board of trustees May 19.

Part of the SGA president’s role is to be the face of the Student Body at the board of trustees meeting, which occurs tri-annually

In addition, the SGA president updates the board on what the SGA senate has been working on and what they plan to do in the upcoming four months.

“Every administration comes in with passion projects; these happen to be [Vice President Nicole Woodcock] and mine,” Petrillo said.

For Petrillo, his passions are student health and wellness, as well as communication between clubs and SGA, he said.

Petrillo and Woodcock have begun discussions with many people on campus, discussing increased awareness and resources for mental health and wellness on campus.

In addition, they have created a committee to work together on this issue that includes faculty, SGA senators and staff.

The statement Petrillo prepared for the May 19-20 meeting stated that SGA was also in the process of creating an ad-hoc committee to improve communication between SGA and clubs on campus.

Ad-hoc committees are created to address issues that overlap from committee to committee, Petrillo said.

This ad-hoc committee will address communication between SGA and both environmental groups and identity groups on campus, he said.

The decision to create this came in part when student leaders came to SGA with concerns about communication after the name of the BLM theft was revealed, Petrillo said.

Though these conversations contributed to the immediate creation of this committee, it was always part of Petrillo’s vision to implement increased communication, he said.

Petrillo said it is so early in its formation that it has yet to form a clear mission yet.

Petrillo also updated the board on the status of the advising center, the health and wellness fund and the Catamount Innovation Fund, all programs brought to life in the previous administration.