Hi Pitt students! My name is Rachel Smookler, and I am so excited to be running for a Student Government Executive Board position on the Thrive slate. I am a Sophomore studying Business Analytics and Finance, with a minor in Spanish and a certificate in International Business. I have been a part of SGB for the past two years, as a First Year Council Member, and currently, as SGB’s Communications Director. Through my time at SGB, I have gained a complex understanding of the challenges students face on Pitt’s campus and have been motivated to be a voice for change. Being in the Board room this past year, I have gained experience with Allocations and ISU funding and have identified areas for growth in the equity and transparency of our process. SGB is a powerful voice for change on campus, and I want to continue to be a part of this change and growth as a Board Member next year. More specifically, I hope to work to advance student health on-campus, protect minority students from discrimination and violence, and re-allocate the student activities fund to more equitably reflect student need.
Outside of the classroom and SGB, I am involved in Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), a professional business organization on campus, and I have been elected as their VP of Public Relations for the upcoming school year. I am also on the Analytics Institute committee for the League of Emerging Analytics Professionals (LEAP), where I teach workshops on technical analytics skills. These experiences have taught me professional skills and connected me with a broader community of Pitt students.
In our current political climate, where reproductive rights are uncertain, many students worry about the lack of access to safe comprehensive reproductive services. As a Board Member, I want to collaborate with the Health Center and other advocacy groups on campus to expand the reproductive services provided to students and provide transparent, accurate information about these services. I want to work to provide inexpensive, medication abortion in the student health clinic, to help remove barriers to access for students. Additionally, I want to increase transparency around fake abortion clinics in the area and more effectively share information about current reproductive services—such as $15 plan B at the University Pharmacy.
Additionally, I want to continue the current work of SGB in advocating for safer, more accessible dining options on campus. As someone with food allergies, I have experienced the struggle of trying to find food options on campus that meet my needs and empathize with students who have experiences with mislabeling or cross-contamination. Though I have seen a drastic improvement in Pitt dining from my Freshman year, there are still many student concerns about the quality, safety, labeling, and availability of allergy-safe options. I want to continue to advocate for dining accessibility on campus and build more awareness around food allergies and other dietary restrictions. Additionally, living in the Oakland food desert, I would love to see an on-campus grocery store that provides healthy, affordable options to the Pitt community, including those who are not currently on a meal plan. By advocating for the importance of an on-campus grocery store to administration and local officials, I hope to remove barriers to accessible, affordable, healthy food options for future Pitt students.
Building on the work of the FUND-more ad-hoc, I want to work to reallocate the student activities fund to better reflect student need on campus. Involvement and Student Union (ISU) funds exist as a resource for registered student organizations, but information barriers make it difficult for organizations to get the funding they need. I would like to initiate conversations with administration surrounding the creation and re-distribution of funds that seek to best support student organizations in their financial needs.
Outside of these more specific initiative ideas, there are so many areas that I would like to see change at the University. In terms of mental health on campus, I would love to see more comprehensive and accessible mental health services in the Student Health Center. Amid fear of the implications of recent executive orders, I want to prioritize the safety and well-being of queer, trans, and BIPOC students on campus. As part of the Thrive SGB slate, we are working collectively to improve resources related to students' mental, physical, and reproductive health so that students can THRIVE at Pitt. Reach out to me at RMS278@pitt.edu with questions, suggestions, or concerns, and remember to vote Thrive SGB on March 11th!