DACA event plans, grant petitions discussed during SGA meeting Monday

Belmont SGA announced its plans to host a DACA awareness event and discussed grant petition deadlines during the first meeting back from fall break.

President of Hope Council Reena Patel is helping SGA members plan an informative event about DACA students in the Belmont community, and Belmont instructor Jose Gonzales agreed to be the faculty adviser assisting SGA members with the event.

The event will give attendees the chance to learn what exactly DACA is and what it entails for student recipients in the future.

The event will also include a talk from a Belmont alum and former DACA recipient coming in and talking about what it is like to be a DACA student and how it affects students after they graduate and enter the workforce. The young professional has not been chosen yet, but SGA President Shania Jones doesn’t think it will be difficult to find someone.

“Someone identifying as a DACA Belmont student will help bring awareness to the cause,” said Jones. “Students can talk to congressmen and write letters, we are just trying to raise awareness of what they can do.”

There is no date set for the event yet, but Jones hopes to have the event before winter break.

SGA treasurer Jacob Hukill also said SGA is on track to reach its grant petition goal for the year, and added that SGA still has three rounds of grant petitions remaining to reach the goal.

“Last year we set the goal to get 75 unique organizations, this year we hope to bring that up,” said Hukill.

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This article written by Caroline Cathey.