We are closely approaching the end of the semester. This is bittersweet because that means I am almost halfway through my last term as Student Senate President.

While attending the National Collegiate Honors Conference at the beginning of the month, it began to hit me that I will not be around for much longer. I have registered for my last semester on campus and I have graduate school applications almost completed. Seniors, our time is slowly coming to an end.

Speaking of scheduling day, social media was able to keep me informed about what was happening on campus, or should I say what was not happening as many students had difficulty registering for classes this year. Between the system crashing, internet problems and classes quickly filling up, it sounds like very few had an enjoyable morning. This has also been a repeating problem the last few semesters as well. Hopefully Millikin can look into the system to see why students continually have these concerns.

We also had the opportunity to have President White hold a Question and Answer session this past week, co-sponsored by the Sociology Club, EAC and the Environmental Sociology course.

For the first half of the forum, Dr. Laundra, faculty advocate for Student Senate, presented the results from a survey about student thoughts on environmentalism on campus. Afterwards, a discussion pursued about how we can make Millikin more environmentally friendly. Recycling around campus was a big part of the conversation. While they recently have made recycling in the residence halls an option on campus, EAC discussed what ways they are looking at improving the process.

Following this, the discussion became more free-flowing, mainly focusing on the budget issues on campus. As students are aware of right now, two major changes the university are looking into are cutting the number of faculty and the possibility of shutting down Mills.

Many questions were asked about if they knew for sure what faculty or programs are being cut. President White said they don’t have answers at this time because they do not want to rush such an important decision.

With the Woods, President White was going to meet with the owner of the Woods in the days to come to discuss how they can make the Woods a more welcoming and healthier environment.

Afterwards, I was approached by two students who expressed interest in the idea of Student Senate having a satisfaction survey about faculty and particularly, administrators.

Hopefully by the end of the semester we will have more answers about the future of Millikin. I know that I have spoken with many students who are not happy with the idea of shutting Mills down. Many of the reasons can be summed up in two main points: Mills typically has one of the strongest communities on campus and Mills is the cheapest housing option on campus.

The rest of this semester will be a trying one for Millikin. As a community, it is the time to stand together and help Millikin become the great school it has the potential of being.