On behalf of United Student Government (USG) at Lincoln Center, I hope you all have adjusted well to the start of the 2016-2017 Academic Year! To the Class of 2017, congratulations on making it this far due to your dedication and commitment to your academics. To the sophomores and juniors, it’s wonderful to see you all again and see what your second and third years on campus will entail. Finally, to the Class of 2020, USG is elated that you chose to come to our Lincoln Center campus, and we hope each and every one of you has adjusted well to your new home away from home.

United Student Government is extremely fortunate to consist of members of a dedicated, creative and growing student body such as our own. We consist of, at most, three Fordham College at Lincoln Center senators from each class and a Gabelli School of Business undergraduate senator from almost every class as well. With this strong base of support, USG has been able to branch out and expand in the past couple of years. We expressed student voices and concerns to administrators through our USG Against Racism committee last year following bias incidents, advocated for student interests during the food provider transition to Aramark, installed standing hand sanitizers and tabled on the plaza during Fordham Thursdays to promote school spirit. All of these were done with a support of our elected senators, but we have also been successful thanks to the support of general members.

All undergraduate students enrolled at our campus are general members of USG. That means that you all may attend any of our general meetings and provide your opinion on the state of our campus, or express an issue that you feel that we should address. Do you have a certain cause that you would like to advocate for? Come to us. In the past we have been able to support students who want to fight for an initiative they feel passionate about, such as when USG supported a group advocating for bringing gender neutral bathrooms onto our campus. Without general membership, we would not be what we are today.

It is because of this that being a part of USG is one of the most rewarding experiences on campus. As one of the main student government groups on campus, we are trusted for being a voice for our student body. That may come with challenges, but when the voices of students come directly to us, our voice can become stronger. As someone who has taken part in student government since Freshman year and is entering year two year as USG President, I know this for sure.

Join us as a general member as we pursue our initiatives and discuss any issues that arise at Fordham Lincoln Center. Our general meetings for the fall semester will take place in room LL1017 on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m., make sure to stop by when you can. It is through your participation, suggestions and feedback that we in USG are capable of representing the student body to our fullest.