Strategizing Retreat in the Works for OU Student Union

The Ohio University Student Union will be hosting a strategizing retreat to discuss the group’s three main campaigns for the upcoming year, as decided at last night’s union meeting.On Oct. 4, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the retreat will be held to discuss the details of upcoming efforts to form a student worker union, increase sexual violence awareness, implement cultural competency classes and pursue fossil fuel and prison divestment.The next General Assembly, which are set to occur on the first Thursday of every month, will be used to educate attendees about the goals of each campaign.Ryan Powers, a junior philosophy major at OU, said everyone who attended last week’s general assembly will be invited to the retreat. The location of the retreat has yet to be decided, however. Powers said it will be somewhere on campus.“Now that the political priorities have been democratically decided upon, [the Student Union] will hash out how we can collectively act,” Powers said. “We’ll identify the current political climate, create tangible goals and creating a timeline for action.”During this Thursday’s meeting, members were encouraged to give feedback on how the organization’s first general assembly went. Comments were recorded under one of two categories: things that went well and things that should be changed.Members discussed how to get new participants more actively involved in general assemblies and meetings. Of the over 30 people present at this Thursday’s meeting, about 10 were new members. One of these students commented that it took him a while to familiarize himself with the group dynamics among union members.Several other announcements were reviewed during committee reports. The fundraising and finance committee is looking into booking a band to play at Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery. Additional announcements include a drive to publish more information to Facebook and Twitter and the creation of the hashtags #OUSU and #StudentPower.