RUSA Report October 29: Student Body President speaks on assault, legislation passed

The Rutgers University Student Assembly passed three pieces of legislation on Thursday, including a student feedback survey, a resolution for greater RUPD involvement at New Student Orientation and allocations for special event funding. 

Student Body President Alina Chen also addressed a statement the assembly posted on its Instagram page concerning an alleged assault tied to Turning Point USA at Rutgers. 

Officer updates

The Assembly meeting began with officer updates. Assembly Vice President Isabella Esposito said she will meet with Frank Reda, Vice president and Deputy Chief Information Officer on Nov. 5 to discuss the results of the Assembly’s Web Design Service survey, which was approved and sent out in early October. The WDS survey was proposed to evaluate usage of Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva services among students and faculty. 

After the officer updates, Chen echoed a statement posted to the Student Assembly’s Instagram page, condemning a social media story in connection with an alleged assault. “We demand appropriate accountability through the university’s established processes and urge the Rutgers community to take this incident seriously,” the post said. 

Chen stated that the Assembly and the University stand firmly against any form of violence and strive to support students affected by such incidents, affirming a commitment to a safe campus environment and urging students to take advantage of University resources. 

Legislation 

The first bill, authored by Academic Affairs Chair Alyssa Lindsay and Rutgers Business School Representative Carson Chen, proposed a survey assessing the demand for business school students to access Special Permission requests. 

Under the current registration system, RBS students cannot request SPNs. The survey will be carried out in partnership between the Academic Affairs Committee and the Rutgers Business School Governing Association. 

The bill passed by unanimous consent. 

Authored by Prevention, Assistance and Advocacy Chair Devaiah Poylangada, the second bill aims to add a time slot for the Rutgers University Police Department at New Student Orientation to increase their outreach among incoming students. Through the resolution, Poylangada highlighted RUPD’s weaknesses in its limited interactions with students.

The resolution also called upon the Division of Student Affairs and Student Orientation and Transition Programs to collaborate with RUPD to facilitate such outreach programs.

After the bill was presented, general member Nina Villanueva asked whether the Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project would be part of RUPD s presentation so students know their rights regarding federal immigration enforcement. Poylangada responded by saying he was happy to discuss such integration in the bill alongside RUPD and SOTP. 

Chen also responded, stating that she has been meeting with RUPD regularly to discuss safety guidelines regarding immigration enforcement. 

The resolution passed by Slack vote. 

The final bill, the Special Events Funding Act, covers funding that differs from typical allocations and draws on larger pools. Allocations Board Chair Smriti Pisharodi gave a presentation detailing the unique nature of special events funding, as well as the criteria necessary for an organization to be eligible to receive such funding. The Allocations Board pooled $250,000 in funding for the 2026-2027 academic year. 

Under the funding guidelines stated in the Assembly’s standing rules, an event must meet three of four criteria to qualify, though eligibility does not guarantee funding. Such criteria include the following: 

• The event must have received special event funding in 3 of the preceding 5 years. 
• An academic or administrative department or an outside company must co-sponsor the event, covering at least 20% of the proposed total cost. 
• The cost of the event exceeds $17,000 alongside an event capacity of at least 500 people. 
• The event is co-sponsored by seven or more campus organizations. 

Regardless of eligibility, the Allocations board reserves the right to reject funding requests or approve only portions of the desired budget. Pisharodi also emphasized that without the bill’s passage, special events would not be funded on time. 

The assembly approved the bill by vote. The meeting was adjourned after the external representatives and the public sector sections.

Full meeting minutes can be found here.