Since 2001, incoming first-year students in the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences (CBS) have ventured to Itasca State Park to participate in the college’s Nature of Life at Itasca (NOL @ Itasca) program, a unique experience exposing students to their future fields of study.

During the four-day, three-night residential field program, students participate in both outdoor field-based activities and indoor lab-based activities, allowing them to gain valuable experiences and meet classmates before entering the University. 

NOL @ Itasca is a key aspect of CBS’ required three-part Nature of Life Series, which includes a first-year and second-year experience course, according to the Nature of Life Series website. 

Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biology Teaching and Learning David Kirkpatrick said NOL @ Itasca is the introductory component to the Nature of Life Series, getting students acquainted with the University and giving them a smaller home within a large institution. He said the series builds the foundation of what students need to succeed in science careers after graduation.

Nature of Life Program Director Brittany Eich has been involved with the program since 2014. Prior to her time as director, Eich was a CBS student leader and was brought onto the program’s professional staff as an assistant before her promotion to director three years ago. 

The program is hosted at Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories (IBSL), a University field station whose entire 49-acre campus lies inside Itasca State Park about four hours northwest of Minneapolis, according to the IBSL website. 

For students unable to attend NOL @ Itasca over the summer, Eich said there is a similar, alternative program called Nature of Life at Cedar Creek, which is only about an hour away from Minneapolis.

“That’s a really cool connection that they’re seeing one of CBS’ field stations, that they’re getting to use the labs, that they might hopefully come back and take a field course,” Eich said. 

During the first day at Itasca, Eich said students meet their groups, instructors and peer mentors and learn about the field station and some of the University traditions, including the Minnesota Rouser and the Alma Mater. In the following days, students participate in modules led by University instructors. 

The modules are focused on building scientific knowledge, covering a variety of topics connected to the program’s environment, Eich said. For example, one module may require students to write essays while another has them sample moss in the forest.

Modules are taught by University instructors like Kirkpatrick and Deena Wassenberg, a professor in the Department of Biology Teaching and Learning. 

Kirkpatrick said activities students do in the Nature of Life Series mirror their work in Foundations of Biology, a required two-semester course for CBS majors.

Wassenberg teaches Foundations of Biology and said her goal with NOL @ Itasca is to give students an idea of what they will learn in CBS, including the process of biology and how biologists approach questions they have. 

“I think a lot of times students come into college thinking there are right answers and wrong answers,” Wassenberg said. “And to some things, there are right answers and wrong answers, but one of the things that we like to demonstrate is how much uncertainty there is, and how, as biologists, we have to become okay with that uncertainty.”

While the program allows students to build relationships with their peers, it also allows instructors and students to connect, Wassenberg said.

“A couple of students will come up to me and be like, ‘Hey, I was in your module,’” Wassenberg said. “That’s an experience we had together. And so that’s just a great way to have an immediate connection with the student.”

On the third day of NOL @ Itasca, students participate in the Itasca Expo, which Eich said is where students present what they did in their modules. Students also have free time to participate in typical camp activities like hiking, canoeing, kayaking and paddle boarding, she added. 

Eich said many CBS students enter the University with the plan to pursue a career in the medical field. She said NOL @ Itasca is a way to show students unique scientific opportunities outside medicine.

Wassenberg said besides being a great way to welcome students to CBS, the program is family-friendly. She said when she started instructing at NOL @ Itasca, she was encouraged to bring her two young children.

“I brought them and a babysitter, and my students got to see me, both as a faculty member and also as a person with a life outside of my faculty role, and you know, as a mom and as somebody who perhaps is just a little more humanized than what you would see in the classroom,” Wassenberg said. 

Kirkpatrick said NOL @ Itasca is the one time a year he has the opportunity to teach with his wife Catherine, who is an associate professor in the Department of Biology Teaching and Learning. Together, David said he and his wife teach a module where students examine fruit flies.

According to Eich, the program was founded to provide better support to incoming students by building community within CBS, creating connections with University resources and providing avenues for students to talk to leaders and instructors.

During NOL @ Itasca, students have opportunities to talk with peer mentors about their concerns, Eich said. She said this may include reservations about the transition to college, finding friends or struggling in their classes.

On the fourth and final day, Eich said there is a graduation ceremony where students look back on their time in Itasca and receive a special Nature of Life shirt. 

“The students who come up here this summer are the only ones that get that t-shirt,” Eich said. “So if they ever see that person on campus, they know two things immediately. That person has gone through Itasca, so I have something to talk to them about, and that person is in CBS.”

Students who feel comfortable being around their classmates usually perform better in school, Kirkpatrick said.

“Having people they feel comfortable with takes away that level of stress,” Kirkpatrick said. 

Kirkpatrick added working in the modules helps students gain confidence in themselves as scientists, helping them engage in similar content to their courses at the University and in their future careers.

Eich said the number of sessions in a given summer depends on enrollment. She said this summer is the biggest yet, with about 775 students coming to CBS in the fall, so the program will host seven sessions throughout June and July.

The field station does not get great cell service, Eich said. Students are more likely to lean into the community-building aspect of the program by participating in recreational activities like beach volleyball, campfires, tug of war and the Great Itasca Relay Race.

“This is a moment to slow our students down and to provide some really cool connections that they might not have done otherwise,” Eich said.

Though University of Minnesota students are largely absent from campus during the summer months, summer orientation sessions welcome future gophers to campus in full force. 

Tasked with welcoming new students and their families to campus, orientation leaders are a pivotal part of the transitional experience before the academic year starts. And while the work can be difficult, orientation leaders said they value the opportunity to provide incoming students with a sense of community. 

Joseph Persaud-Cox, a first-year orientation leader, said he usually begins his days by mingling with the incoming students and their families before orientation leader introductions. From there, orientation leaders spend the day with their groups.

Orientation leaders have detailed schedules to ensure students get the best out of their experience, Persaud-Cox said. Two-day orientation sessions consist of small group lessons, community-building activities, free time and meetings with college advisors.

Persaud-Cox said he appreciated the feeling of community he got from his orientation experience and wanted to instill the same feeling in the next class of incoming students. 

“I definitely thrived with having support during my transition,” Persaud-Cox said. “And taking that to work every day. That’s my goal. Whenever I have students, build community with them, and they’re walking out with a group of friends”

Tarran Austin said she wanted to become an orientation leader because of her experience but in a different way. She said being in a predominantly white space as a woman of color made it harder for her to build community. 

Though Austin said she later realized her orientation would not be the defining moment of her college experience, she thinks being an orientation leader helps other students of color have a more positive experience. 

“Having representation on my team, definitely, I feel like helps other students just see a reflection of themselves,” Austin said. 

Austin added she plays “This or That” with her groups, where students are given two options and have to choose between the two as an icebreaker. 

“I just remember having my Chipotle versus Qdoba conversation and we’ll have a little debate and it was just so funny,” Austin said. “Having students be passionate about things like vanilla or chocolate ice cream, or queso or guacamole.”

Brooklyn Burque worked as an orientation leader in summer 2023 and is now an orientation intern for the Office of Orientation and Transition Experiences. In her role, Burque said she works as a coordinator and peer mentor. 

“I place a lot of trust in (the orientation leaders). And hopefully (they) place a lot of trust in me too,” Burque said. “But whenever I’m having a stressful day, they always check up on me even though I’m kind of a supervisor to them.” 

Though Burque participates in the University welcome at the beginning of each orientation, where leaders and staff are introduced to new students and their families, most of her work is behind the scenes, handling logistical matters like scheduling, she said

Both Persaud-Cox and Austin said the biggest challenge has been the unpredictable weather. Since many activities are outside, adjustments for weather can have a drastic effect on their schedules. 

“But even that’s an opportunity to take them through different unique routes and introduce them to important tunnel systems that go for ways around campus,” Persaud-Cox said. 

Austin said she has become more well-rounded from working in a team environment where she gets to know different groups of students and families each day. 

Persaud-Cox said the best part of being an orientation leader is talking with new students and getting them excited and prepared for their upcoming transition, either from high school to college or as transfer students. And working in a team with friends to help others reach a common goal has been a joy, he added.

“The best part is getting to tell them all the things that helped me and I feel like I get to give them the advantage and tell them all the tips and secrets and stuff that I learned during my transition and stuff that made me successful,” Persaud-Cox said.

Since its pilot launch in September 2022, Dinkytown Alerts has informed students and community members about crimes within Dinkytown.

The program is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the City of Minneapolis to inform University students and Dinkytown community members of crimes near campus, according to the DPS website. However, University students said many crimes reported in the alerts lack substantial information or come too late, while others are not reported through the alerts at all.

The alerts encompass the area east of Interstate 35W, south of 8th Street SE and northwest of the East Bank campus, according to the DPS website. Students can opt-in to receive alerts through their MyU account, though alerts are only sent when the University’s police department (UMPD) receives verified information from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). 

Dinkytown is under the legal jurisdiction of MPD, according to UMPD spokesperson Jake Ricker. MPD informs UMPD of certain crimes as a courtesy, but they are not required to do so and UMPD is not informed of all crimes. 

The Minnesota Daily contacted MPD spokesperson Garrett Parten for an interview but did not receive a response before publishing. 

Luke Wittner, Interfraternity Council (IFC) executive vice president, said the alerts are a good idea but could be executed better. 

Wittner, who uses apps like X, formerly known as Twitter, and Citizen to hear about crimes on campus, said there are times Citizen will notify him about a crime in Dinkytown, but he will not receive a Dinkytown Alert.

“​​I feel like I have to pick and choose my resources to actually put something together of what I’m looking out for,” Wittner said.

Wittner said the information he gets on the alternative apps is much more thorough and timely, including information about criminals’ appearance.

“‘Male in a black hoodie’ okay, that could be 400 different people out there tonight, like, narrow it down a little bit for me,” Wittner said.

IFC President Max Tuzinski-Dashe said timeliness and accuracy are most important in the effectiveness of Dinkytown Alerts. He added he would like to see more commitment to following up on those alerts. 

Crimes considered for Dinkytown Alerts include robbery, aggravated assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, homicide and an active shooter, according to the DPS website. Significant explosions and incidents requiring hazmat suits are also considered.

Ricker said the program will be unaffected by the mutual aid agreement reached in March, which allows UMPD to respond to 911 calls in Dinkytown since it is still under MPD’s jurisdiction. 

For an alert to be issued, the information has to be verified by an agency like UMPD or MPD, Ricker said. This means information verified by UMPD can also be considered for an alert, which may be more likely with the mutual aid expansion. 

“Really what defines a Dinkytown Alert is a little bit (of) geography,” Ricker said. “It played out that mutual aid just expanded into an area that it didn’t exist in fall 2022.”

Dinkytown alerts are separate from SAFE-U Alerts, which inform University students of crime on or immediately adjacent to the University campus, according to the DPS website. 

Unlike SAFE-U Alerts, which students are automatically enrolled in, those interested in receiving Dinkytown notifications must opt-in. 

The IFC held a safety meeting during the spring semester of this year with representatives from different University chapters, presenting information about the alerts and how to sign up for them, according to Tuzinski-Dashe. He said the alerts should be more well-known to students. 

Ricker said the University tries to get the word out about the program through safety reminders at the start of the fall semester, the end of the spring semester and sometimes the end of winter break. The University also utilizes social media to spread the word. 

Ricker said he encourages students who live or spend time in the Dinkytown neighborhood to opt-in to the program.

The Community of Chemistry Graduate Students (CCGS) at the University of Minnesota aims to forge relationships between graduate students and help promote a healthy academic environment.

The group hosts regular events and workshops to help chemistry graduate students connect in a non-academic environment, which University faculty said creates a safe space for graduate students struggling with mental health or other issues.

University chemistry professor Phil Buhlmann said graduate study in the department can be an isolating experience for students who do not know many people outside of their research groups. CCGS aims to combat this by organizing social activities like coffee hours or group runs. 

Buhlmann said these interactions reduce stress and make students more comfortable sharing mental health issues with their peers, who can offer support or direct them to other University resources.

The Department of Chemistry also offers mental health advocates for students to turn to if they are struggling. 

Lee Penn, one of these mental health advocates, said CCGS has a strong focus on community, which promotes a healthy environment for graduate students.

“If you start to feel kind of isolated, then I think that’s when you run the risk of bigger challenges and struggles with regard to mental health and wellness,” Penn said.

Director of Operations in the Department of Chemistry Chuck Tomlinson said the graduate experience is typically thought of in terms of whether a student is tough enough to complete the program, which can be harmful to students’ mental health. 

“The whole point is, ‘it’s hard,’ right,” Tomlinson said. “It’s hard to be a grad student. It’s hard to get a PhD.”

Penn said it is important to talk about student mental health because it is a common issue.

Buhlmann was Director of Graduate Studies in the Chemistry School when the group was formed in 2012. He said upon taking the position, he immediately wanted to bring issues of student stress and mental health to the forefront.

Buhlmann said he began by helping organize a mental health workshop for the entire chemistry department in fall 2012, including both undergraduate and graduate students. 

Because the University did not discuss mental health as openly as it does now, Buhlmann said he was unsure of what the turnout would be like. However, around 80 people attended with the vast majority being graduate students. 

Following the momentum from the workshop, Buhlmann said the formation of CCGS was primarily initiated by graduate students. 

“We’ve always felt that it was important that the grad students were in the driver’s seat,” Buhlmann said.

Buhlmann said it has always been important to chemistry department faculty that graduate students determine what issues CCGS would focus on.

“It was always them self-organizing and basically bringing their interests to us,” Buhlmann said. “Working together with us, but in an equal relationship.”

A key aspect of CCGS’s work is the development of student surveys, Buhlmann said. Beginning in 2013, the group has worked with Boyton Health to survey chemistry graduate students every two years. CCGS and department faculty then analyze the survey results to determine what issues are most important to graduate students and how to address them, Buhlmann said, with mental health as a prominent example.  

Buhlmann stepped away from the position in 2020, and University professor Aaron M. Massari is now the Director of Graduate Studies. 

By continuing to bring issues of mental health to the forefront through the work of CCGS, Tomlinson said students feel they can ask for mental health support rather than tough it out.

“The test of going to graduate school should not be, ‘Do you have what it takes,’” Tomlinson said. “I view it as our role, as a graduate program and as the department in general, to help you be as successful as possible, to get off to the next step.”

The University of Minnesota’s summer academic session began June 3, offering courses in both in-person and online formats to accommodate students’ summer schedules.

University professors say summer courses allow students to complete course credits in a way that may be more conducive to their schedules while presenting unique challenges for students who struggle with work management.

University professors Brian Gibbens and Charles Willis teach all three summer sections of General Biology. Students who take the course are required to complete both the lecture and lab sections. Though all lectures and most lab sections are online, beginning this summer, Gibbens and Willis offer one in-person lab section.

Willis said at-home labs may be especially challenging for students who do not manage their time well because students have to set up and perform the labs themselves, something a lab manager would do for an in-person lab.

“The most challenging thing of an online class is managing your time and making sure that you get done what you need to get done in a way that doesn’t overwhelm you,” Willis said. “And so some students might just like to show up at a given time each week and do the lab and then go home.”

Reed Priest, a professor at the University who teaches Introduction to Psychology during the summer, said online summer courses may be beneficial for students because of their flexibility.

Priest’s section of the course is fully asynchronous during the summer.

“A lot of folks are very busy out and about working, vacationing, doing a full-time job, you name it,” Priest said. “So being able to take this course in its online, asynchronous format really enables them to learn a lot, but as they so choose, which is really quite advantageous.”

Online lab sections of General Biology include both virtual labs and at-home “do it yourself” labs, which aim to give students a similar learning experience to an in-person lab, Willis added. Unlike in-person lab sections, virtual and “do it yourself” labs provide greater flexibility for students to complete coursework on their own.

Despite the many advantages online courses afford students, the lack of interaction between students is a challenge for instructors during the summer.

“A lot of the time, students can have different perspectives on the same topic, and by sharing perspectives, ideas, understandings, we as a class are often better able to appreciate and work with this given concept,” Priest said. “That’s a bit harder in an online course.”

Priest said instructors combat this with interactive and group assignments, like discussions, to help increase interaction among students.

Carly Byrnes, a communication studies professor at the University, said the level of enrichment a student gets from an entirely online course depends on the student’s needs.

This summer, Byrnes is teaching an asynchronous, online section of Introduction to Public Speaking in which students complete coursework individually, without class meetings in person or virtually.

Byrnes said some students prefer to take courses in an online format because they plan to go into an industry that is more technology-based than interpersonal. Also, during the summer, in-person coursework may coincide with summer-specific conflicts like atypical work schedules or family dynamics.

Time management is more flexible for asynchronous online courses like hers, Byrnes said. However, it requires greater self-motivation than in-person courses because coursework is self-paced.

Though online classes get a bad reputation, Byrnes said they tend to be the most popular ones in the Department of Communication Studies and have many diversity, equity and inclusion benefits for students, particularly for public speaking.

“A lot of people have glossophobia or just a fear of giving presentations and in-person classes that can be very challenging for students who get debilitated by public speaking anxiety,” Byrnes said.

The regular eight-week summer session will conclude on July 26 and is still accepting student enrollment.

Editor’s Note: This article contains material regarding allegations of sexual harassment that are currently unproven. 

Two allegations of sexual harassment were brought against former University of Minnesota Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President Shashank Murali shortly before his resignation in March, according to reports filed with the University’s Equal Opportunity and Title IX Office (EOT).

These allegations were brought to USG leadership prior to Murali’s resignation. Murali attributed his resignation to mental health concerns in his resignation letter.

The Minnesota Daily maintains the anonymity of these sources due to the nature of the allegations, and interviews were conducted under the assurance of anonymity. These sources provided the Minnesota Daily with the EOT reports.

One of the women alleged Murali encouraged her to drink beyond her comfort and touched her inappropriately while at a party for an extracurricular event in February, according to the report. 

The woman said she did not give consent at any time. She said she tried several times to get away from Murali, both on her own and with the help of friends at the party. 

“He was constantly getting mad like, ‘Oh like where’s my girl going?’ or like ‘Where are these people taking my girl’ or something like that,” the woman said. “Referring to me as his girl when there was no like, sort of relationship established.”

Another woman filed a complaint against Murali in March, which concerned multiple alleged incidents during the 2022-23 academic year, according to a report filed with EOT.

After the women made a complaint to USG leadership, two members of USG took the complaint to its human resources department on March 19, according to USG leadership. 

In his resignation letter, Murali said he had been discussing his resignation with USG’s presidential team for over a month and USG directors were notified weeks ago of the decision. 

“I believe that now is the best time for me to resign and focus on myself and my well-being,” Murali said in his resignation letter. 

University policy requires University employees to report allegations of sexual misconduct they learn about to their campus Title IX office, according to the EOT website. EOT Director Tina Marisam said student organizations are not required to do the same. 

In an email statement, USG said it follows all University policies concerning sexual misconduct and has its own internal policies “to ensure (the) organization remains a safe space for all.”

“We took this situation very seriously,” USG said in its statement. “We took as much action as we could as quickly as we could in accordance with both University and our own policies, while doing our best to provide (the women) with resources and agency as they share their experiences.” 

The women said they have maintained contact with the two USG members who initially reported the allegations to USG Human Resources but have remained anonymous to other USG members, including the human resources department.

According to the Student Groups and Sexual Misconduct webpage, student organizations may take action to address shared concerns within the framework of their own group.

EOT allows members of the University community to report instances of alleged sexual misconduct via phone, email or formal report, which is available on its website. Once EOT receives a report, those who report have the option to pursue investigation into an incident either with EOT or law enforcement, according to Marisam. 

In some situations, Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sexual discrimination in education, prohibits student groups from taking punitive action against a member for alleged sexual misconduct without an investigative process, which finds the accused engaged in the misconduct, Marisam said. 

Marisam added groups closely directed by the University would be subject to this rule. 

Both women said they are not planning on pursuing an investigation, given Murali graduated in May.

Murali declined to comment without first reading a copy of this article. The Minnesota Daily policy prohibits the sharing of article drafts prior to publication. The Daily shared relevant information to this story with Murali, and he denied an interview.

As the academic year draws to a close, the University of Minnesota’s Council of Graduate Students (COGS) looks back on its accomplishments. 

COGS leadership cited resource accessibility, collaboration with the still-new graduate student union and work with the University’s administration as some of their primary successes. 

COGS Speaker Mary Kate Wolken said COGS “had an ambitious set of goals” for itself going into this year. 

Though it is challenging for COGS to measure its progress given the difficulty of obtaining tangible results in its line of work, Wolken said she is confident in the progress COGS made this year in support of graduate students, career services, housing and resource accessibility. 

“It’s not just enough for the University to have resources,” Wolken said. “Accessibility to those resources is essential.”

Many of the resources available to the University’s undergraduate population are not available to graduate students, according to Wolken. This year, COGS has worked to centralize resources and connect graduate students with them. 

COGS Director of Internal Relations Felix Cheuk Wun Ting said one way COGS has done this is by creating a resource packet for graduate students. The Graduate Student Resource Guide is organized categorically and guides graduate students to an array of resources, including those for academics, professional development, food, legal advice and mental health, among others.

Cheuk Wun Ting, who will replace Wolken next year as COGS speaker, said he promoted the guide to incoming graduate students at orientation this year and received positive feedback. He added that COGS hopes to continue adding to it in the future since the guide is not an exhaustive list.

Wolken said one of COGS’ internal goals for the year was to navigate differences between COGS and the Graduate Labor Union-United Electrical (GLU-UE), which unionized in April 2023. Since GLU-UE’s formation, issues of labor and pay for graduate students are no longer under COGS’ purview. 

While GLU-UE represents all graduate student workers, COGS is the representative body for the entire graduate student population, according to Wolken.

“We have a very open relationship with GLU-UE,” Wolken said. “We’re not competing with each other, obviously. We’re working in our own lanes.”

Wolken added that the relationship has been “a synergistic situation,” allowing both groups to use different mechanisms to achieve common goals. GLU-UE’s existence allowed COGS to focus on other advocacy issues, which they have had success with this year.

Cheuk Wun Ting said despite pay now being under GLU-UE’s purview, COGS is still advocating for graduate-student-related issues, including housing, food, transportation, mental health and other campus resources, which the resource guide aims, in part, to mitigate. 

“It shouldn’t just be considered as some kind of bargaining process,” Cheuk Wun Ting said. “It’s part of students’ lives, and so COGS is still responsible for all these things.”

Wolken said COGS has not had much success in discussing issues with University administration related to international graduate students. 

Despite this setback, Cheuk Wun Ting, who also serves as director of finance for the Council of International Graduate Students (CIGS), said COGS and CIGS are working together to solve problems related to international graduate students, which they will continue to do next year.

This year has still seen a lot of effort between COGS and University administration to figure out when the administration can and should collaborate with COGS, Wolken said.

Taiwo Aremu, COGS’ representative to the Board of Regents, said COGS has advocated for the inclusion of graduate student voices in key administrative duties this year. 

Board of Regents Co-Vice Chair Mike Kenyanya and Regent Robyn Gulley both attended COGS general assembly meetings this year, according to Aremu, which COGS hopes will increase advocacy for graduate students by the Regents.

“These two folks that showed up now know what COGS is all about,” Aremu said. “They know our priorities. They know our strategic goals. They know how important we are to the University.”

COGS hopes to host more regents at its general assembly meetings next semester, Cheuk Wun Ting said. 

University administration has similarly hosted graduate students in committee meetings, interviews and other key decision-making forums over the year, according to Aremu. 

Aremu said he recently attended interviews with a potential University chief investment officer and a potential Senate director.

COGS was involved in advocacy efforts last fall to ensure student inclusion in the presidential search, which confirmed Rebecca Cunningham’s presidency in February. 

In October, COGS collaborated with other University student governance organizations to release a joint letter advocating for greater student inclusion in the search.

Interim President Jeff Ettinger also reinstated the presidential visit with COGS, Wolken said. Both Ettinger and Provost Rachel Croson attended the COGS April general assembly meeting for a special session — an invaluable face-to-face interaction between graduate students and University administrators.

“I cannot even emphasize how big of a deal this was,” Wolken said.

The upcoming year will bring great change for the University, according to Wolken, but COGS will continue to advocate for graduate students as it always has.

“I am very confident that we have shaken up a lot of conversations and forced the administration to seriously consider some systemic changes,” Wolken said.

The University of Minnesota Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG) president Shashank Murali resigned from his position on March 22, citing personal and mental health reasons. 

In his resignation letter, Murali said he had been discussing his resignation with USG’s presidential team for over a month and USG directors were notified weeks ago of the decision. 

“I believe that now is the best time for me to resign and focus on myself and my well-being,” Murali said in his resignation letter. 

Vice President Sara Davis will assume Murali’s position until USG’s newly elected president and vice president Rahma Ali and Clara Jünemann begin their term in July.

USG formally announced Murali’s resignation to their staff at its most recent Forum meeting on Tuesday, according to USG Communications Director Mina Zhang.

“We strongly believe in our organization’s ability to smoothly continue serving students with this recent change,” USG said in an email statement to The Minnesota Daily. “Currently, we are unsure of a re-appointment of Vice President given time left in the semester and because we would like to continue prioritizing our time and focus towards our student advocacy efforts.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the Board of Regents’ role in reacting to student poll results. The Board, nor the University of Minnesota, is compelled to take action on the polls.

In the University of Minnesota campus ballot elections results released on Wednesday afternoon, students voted in favor of suggesting the University divest from companies supporting Israel and also elected new Undergraduate Student Government (USG) leadership.

Students voted in favor of a question asking if the University should “sever ties with companies complicit in war crimes and human-rights violations, war-profiting companies that recruit students on campus, and study abroad programs in Israel,” according to the certified election results announced Wednesday.

Of the 5,512 votes cast for this question, approximately 74.8% of students voted “yes,” with about 15.7% voting “no” and about 9.5% abstaining, according to the certified election results. Approximately 13.3% percent of the full student body voted, according to a University spokesman.

“This is an amazing victory for UMN’s community and the Palestinian movement at large!” Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) and Students for Climate Justice (SCJ) said in a joint statement. “This is just the beginning of our campaign and its foundation is built on the student body’s consensus. The road to divestment has started and not yet won.”

Wednesday’s results confirmed that Rahma Ali and Clara Jünemann will be USG’s next president and vice president for the 2024-25 academic year.

Ali and Jünemann will succeed Shashank Murali and Sara Davis as USG’s president and vice president.

“We’re excited to take on the challenges and responsibilities of these roles, and are committed to advocating on behalf of undergraduate students. When we decided to run together, we did so not motivated by titles and roles, but by our passion for promoting initiatives that benefit students and ensuring that students feel represented,” Ali and Jünemann said in a statement.

In other races, Cal Mergendahl will be the new Council of Graduate Students (COGS) president, while nobody qualified to be COGS vice president due to no candidates being on the ballot. Mergendahl is a former columnist for the Minnesota Daily.

Jacob Bourgault and Flora Yang will be the new Professional Student Government (PSG) president and vice president, according to the certified election results. Yang previously served as USG president during the 2022-23 academic year.

Of the two poll questions presented by USG, the first asked if students wanted a commitment from President-Designate Rebecca Cunningham to prioritize countering the issue of food insecurity on campus, including strategizing to introduce a break-even grocery store. Approximately 90% of students voted “yes,” while roughly 3% voted “no” and about 7% abstained.

The second USG question appeared only on undergraduate ballots and asked if students supported a $1.18 increase in student services fees per student for USG to increase student group funding and support student advocacy. Approximately 60% of students voted “yes,” with about 29% voting “no” and roughly 11% abstaining. 

Newly elected USG, COGS and PSG leadership will begin their terms on July 1. The University does not typically take administrative or governance action in response to these polls, according to a University spokesman.

This article has been updated.

Results for the University of Minnesota campus elections will be announced Wednesday, including the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) president and vice president. 

Presidential candidate Rahma Ali and vice presidential candidate Clara Jünemann, who are running uncontested, talked with The Minnesota Daily to talk about their goals for the coming year.

Ali currently serves as a student group representative and member of USG’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, whereas Jünemann is the external media specialist for USG’s communications team. 

The Minnesota Daily: Why are you running for USG leadership?

Rahma Ali: “I’ve been part of student government since my freshman year, and I was Abdul [Mohamed’s] intern, the president from 2021 to 2022. Being a part of all the different meetings he had, introducing me to different faculty and administration staff in general, he was like, ‘Okay, if you’re going to stay for the long run in this organization, there’s a possibility that you can always take a higher staff role.’ Ever since, I have done my best to stay engaged within the organization and take different roles, whether that is being a staff member or a voting member, or just in general, being an active student within USG. So ever since I’ve sort of had this passion for continuing to advocate for students in different ways and senior year, I was like, ‘Okay, there’s no other organization that I’d like to put my time and effort towards, so why not go for this role and continue to work on the projects that I’ve been working on for the past few years, and also just continued to advocate for more projects.’ Right now, we have a lot of great [projects] being worked on by other staff members that I would like to continue seeing how those progress.”

Clara Jünemann: “For me, I think I share a lot of the same passion for student advocacy that Rhama talked about. I joined USG during my sophomore year as a student group representative, and then this year, my junior year, I became a staff member. The past few years, being a part of USG has been a way to find the community on campus to find other like-minded students who share the same passion and advocacy initiatives that we want to work on. So for me, running to be vice president and running with Rahma really has to do with continuing the visions that we have and all those advocacy goals that we want to focus on next year. As I mentioned, there really is no other organization or place on campus that I would willingly put so much time and effort into next year because I really believe in all the advocacy work that we do and the impact that we can have for students on campus.”

Daily: What changes would you like to implement?

Ali: “I really want to see better connections between students and administration, whether that’s faculty or staff, and even with our deans from all the different colleges. We constantly want to do a lot of change around the University, and then once we get to getting resolutions passed outside of USG, nothing moves. Now, work is being done. I’ve personally seen this within the different resolutions that I’ve written with other staff members, other voting members, and we always run into the issue of, ‘Okay, our resolution has passed. Our student body approves it through a Forum, but now nothing is being done from the administration side.’ I feel like if we have better one-on-one connections with admin, a lot of our projects would be much easier to get passed through a University-wide initiative or project. Right now, with having a new president coming into office, I feel like we can build those connections from the ground up, start them early and then just continue to make sure that we continue those connections throughout the rest of our year as well as throughout the years after us.”

Jünemann: “To build off of that, engagement really is something that we want to focus on and that we think is super important not just with administration, but also in a different way. We think that USG has been very disconnected from other student groups even on campus, or even just the larger scope body. A lot of students don’t know what USG is or, even within student group members, they aren’t aware of the resources that we have and ways that we can support them. So, something we’re also working on is building more of those stronger connections between USG and student organizations next year so that these relationships can go on even in the years after our terms.”

Daily: What are your goals for your term?

Jünemann: “I think Rahma and I both have a lot of goals, and I’ll just briefly touch on a few of them. Hopefully, we can achieve as many as possible next year, but obviously, tackling food insecurity is something that we do want to continue. I think there’s been a lot of support from students on campus for that, especially since it’s such a big concern and affects really any student on campus, so that’s one of our big goals. Something else that we really want to push is for the University to take more climate action, and specifically when they’re carbon neutral. So sustainability and environmental action is really something we’re gonna push for more next year.” 

Ali: “One of the projects that the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee has been working on for a while now that sort of just goes hand in hand with expansion of the MLK program is expansion of well-being spaces right now. There’s a focus on prayer spaces, and prayer can mean something different for everyone. We’ve been making a lot of progress connecting with different colleges, and right now some of the other members are focusing on St. Paul because there are a lot of St. Paul students that would love to use well-being spaces. That has been in the works for three semesters now and will most likely continue next fall and spring. Seeing as many buildings as possible have a well-being space that’s not just a storage room with a bunch of sofas and random chairs and tables in there is something that I’d love to see in as many buildings as possible. Then, just in general, Clara mentioned this too, but empowerment and engagement for students. We want to be able to connect with as many student boards as possible. Some of that is CLA’s [College of Liberal Arts] student board, CSE’s [College of Science and Engineering] board, and CFANS [College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences] is one that we’re trying to make sure we get a lot of their voices heard because a lot of CFANS students just want to be as represented as possible in different initiatives. So, I feel like a lot of outreach and engagement is something that we really want to focus on. Right now, whenever I talk to students or just any of my close friends, it’s a lot of, ‘USG is on one side and then all the other student groups are on the other side.’ We’re all students at the end of the day advocating for student voices, so why not just come together and represent each of our student groups to the best of our ability.”

This interview has been edited for clarity, grammar and length.