A message from your Student Senate

Dear Luther College Students,

Here we are at Luther, some of us starting the end of our term at Luther, some of us just beginning and some of us in the middle. Luther College is a special place full of learning, friends and fun. I know that Luther will always hold a special place in my heart and my few years here have been nothing but amazing.

Last spring the student body elected me Student Senate President. While running for President I made five promises; to expand the College Readership program, holding Student Senate accountable, fiscal responsibility, increasing transparency and hosting open door lunches between myself and students.

For those students who were gone or may have forgotten, I’ll just reiterate these promises in more depth. Right now Student Senate works with the College Readership program to bring the New York Times and USA Today to campus for our students. I want to expand the program to include either more newspapers or to add a third paper to the selection.

Throughout my years here at Luther, Student Senate has grown in influence and respect. But a major missing piece is accountability of Senate by the students who elect us.

As President, I will ensure that all attendance records and voting records of each and every Student Senate meeting are posted in public places easily accessible to students so that they can know if their senators are doing the job they were elected to do. Working hand in hand with accountability is transparency. With a new and revitalized Communications Committee, Student Senate is dedicated to ensuring that students receive information in a timely manner from Senate. Senate is here to help students and that means letting them know about important activities or decisions we have made.

I also want to make sure that Student Senate is being fiscally responsible. At a time of economic hardship Student Senate must be careful and thrifty with the money which has been budgeted because in the end, that money comes from the students who attend Luther College.

The final promise is open-door lunches with Student Senate President and some of the Senators. I want to hold two lunches a month with students from across campus to hear their concerns and to answer their questions. Dates and times for lunches will be posted in the Union. Student Senate should be available at all times, and I promise, as President, to make myself available, so please feel free to approach me on campus at any time with concerns or questions. In addition, I would like to remind students that all Senate meetings are open to the public and we would like to encourage students to come and watch the Senate in action.

I hope that each and every one of you has a wonderful year full of learning, fun and friendship. I hope to see you all at a Senate meeting or at lunch sometime.

Respectfully,

Jonathan Grieder
Student Senate President