KSA uses breakfast to promote petitions

Students may have been hoping for a free breakfast of sausage, eggs and stacks of pancakes early last Thursday, as members of the KSA set up tables for an early-risers’ breakfast in the rotunda of the Richmond campus.

However, it became readily apparent that the KSA intended the breakfast for on-the-go students preparing for final exams. Coffee, quarter-slices of assorted muffins and half granola bars were served on ready-to-snatch napkins as 19-year-old Meirna Said and other KSA members readied petitions that called for more student space on campus. The goal for the breakfast was to get the attention of students and have them sign the petition, explained Said.

“In Richmond, what we’re looking at the spaces next to the KSA lounge, specifically the meeting rooms not being used frequently and other rooms in the campus that aren’t being used to its full potential,” said Reena Bali, Richmond campus representative. “The main goal for the petition is for the Richmond campus to have more social space and lounges for individual faculties and departments, and for more improvements made to existing lounges.”

Bali does recognize the limited space in the campus, however she points out that many of the meeting rooms on campus aren’t being frequented enough. “We want to sit down with the president and have the chance to talk to him about making those spaces into lounges for students and faculty members as well,” said Bali.

Thursday morning’s breakfast, though, failed to garner the attention Said had hoped for, with many students overlooking the snack-sized portions of food. However, the KSA did receive 108 signatures on the petition during the breakfast alone.

“We wanteded to see what kind of response the petition would have on students, so we kind of introduced it quietly during the breakfast,” said Bali. “Because right now, I don’t want to harass students into signing the petition during exam week.”

Both Bali and Richmond campus director Kareem Elmassry will be putting out the petition officially during Welcome Week in the beginning of the Spring Semester in the new year.