The next heads of the Student Government Board have plans to address affordability, student representation in the University, and ICE concerns.<\/p>\n
Current Chief of Staff Evan Levasseur and former executive board member Neal Gupta were elected president and vice president, respectively, for the 2026-27 Student Government Board on Tuesday. Levasseur and Gupta ran unopposed on the executive ticket. Here\u2019s what they have in store for next year.<\/p>\n
Amid an increase in ICE presence across<\/a> U.S. cities, one of Levasseur\u2019s top priorities is ensuring students are educated and protected if an ICE agent comes to campus. Pittsburgh community organizations have increased their outreach<\/a> to meet the growing fear<\/a> of ICE among immigrant communities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that we can create an environment that\u2019s safe for [students] \u2014 where they can just be able to go to school and not have to worry about any external fears or threats for their safety on our campus,\u201d Levasseur said.<\/p>\n SGB recently met with the Office of Public Safety<\/a> and Pitt Police<\/a> about using ENS to notify students and campus employees of a potential ICE presence in Oakland and learned they cannot use the ENS system for this purpose. Levasseur said they are looking for \u201calternative routes\u201d and that SGB representatives have a meeting tomorrow with a different Pitt safety office.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re meeting tomorrow to talk about what the policy is and the training the officers and security guards have gone through for if an ICE agent or federal agent comes to the dorms,\u201d Levasseur said. \u201cWhat is the protocol going to be? Are they just going to let the agent in, are they going to actually refuse entry to the agent?\u201d<\/p>\n For next year, Levasseur said he hopes to hold a \u201cknow your rights\u201d town hall to educate students on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially in the fall when there\u2019s new students on campus or maybe new concerns \u2014 any way that we can continue to educate students on their rights and what to do if ICE comes to campus,\u201d Levasseur said.<\/p>\n Levasseur and Gupta will also work on strengthening academic freedom next year, considering Pitt\u2019s low ranking<\/a> from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression\u2019s<\/a> report released in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gupta referenced the University\u2019s sanction<\/a> of Students for Justice in Palestine<\/a> last year, after a study-in held at Hillman Library. The ACLU filed a lawsuit<\/a> against Pitt and won in court.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of infringement on the administration\u2019s part on students\u2019 rights,\u201d Gupta said. \u201c[We want to] make sure that students know they\u2019re protected, that they know they can exercise these rights without fear of retaliation from administration or anyone else on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Levasseur also wants to continue current president Marley Pinsky\u2019s advocacy for a student voting member<\/a> of the Board of Trustees. SGB members currently can sit in on Board meetings, but cannot vote on measures.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more work that\u2019s going to have to be done, and I doubt it\u2019ll be finished by the time that we\u2019re finished with office next year, but it\u2019s a conversation that we really want to continue pushing for,\u201d Levasseur said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that a student has a voice on [the Board] because the decisions that they make are the ones that impact us the most.\u201d<\/p>\n Levasseur said his prime goal of instituting a student voting member is having a student opinion on tuition rates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t really have any say over our tuition, and it continues to rise and rise<\/a>, and it\u2019s extremely frustrating for us as students,\u201d Levasseur said. \u201cWe want to have some way to advocate and voice our opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n Levasseur and Gupta will also work to restructure allocations for student organizations, after SGB\u2019s referendum on raising the Student Activity Fee<\/a> by $25 passed on Tuesday night. Levasseur said that because the rate has remained $100 for the past 10 years, SGB has \u201cstruggled to work within the budgets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPrices in general have gone up a lot, and we also have more student organizations that are requesting funding, so we\u2019ve really struggled internally,\u201d Levasseur said. \u201cWe want to make sure that we have enough funding to support the 800-plus student organizations that we have on campus, and also the formula groups that get a percentage of the Student Activity Fees.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Gupta\u2019s initiatives is to hear more student voices on housing issues on campus, in light of Pitt significantly increasing its enrollment leading to some students living in hotels and fraternity complexes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a big change I saw, especially from my freshman year, is first-year students being housed in hotels and off-campus apartments and kind of being shunned away from main campus,\u201d Gupta said. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure the University is keeping up with the number of students they\u2019re admitting so there\u2019s no problems with students having a life on campus and having a struggle to transition to college.\u201d<\/p>\n Levasseur and Gupta\u2019s campaign slogan was \u201cRoc with Evan and Neal,\u201d after the name of the Pitt Panther mascot. Gupta said he wants students to feel connected to them and know that their job is to serve them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not here to be this shunned away organization that hides in the WPU,\u201d Gupta said. \u201cWe want to be with the community and make sure we\u2019re exercising and amplifying their voices.\u201c<\/p>\n