On Friday, Florida Atlantic Student Government held its annual State of the Campus address where Governor Hamilton Ezell discussed current university progress, safety and student opinions.

The event took place from 3-4 p.m. in front of a crowd of 40-50 students and faculty members in the House Chambers.

During the address, Ezell introduced a new program called the Boca Raton Campus Hall Series, which he created to facilitate conversation between the student body and Student Government.

“The more communication and feedback SG receives from the students, the more accurately we as a governing body can conduct business and disperse proper funding,” he said.

He first had the idea for the campus hall series last year during a forum on gun control.

“I thought about what would be a better way of addressing student issues on campus,” he said. “I thought a town hall meeting would have that desired effect.”

According to the governor, future town hall meetings will allow students to speak with student representatives to voice their concerns regarding campus issues.

On top of the new program, Ezell tackled topics ranging from a new veteran memorial flagpole he will have installed to parking to Greek life organizations.

The governor plans to put in the flagpole — which will fly both the American and the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Flag — outside of the Student Union.

He said, “As of now we are talking to ROTC and Veterans Affairs about who will maintain the flags.”

According to Ezell, the first town hall meeting will be about parking and transportation, something that has become the No. 1 complaint among students according to the Student Government governor.

The Jupiter House governor, Selene Vazquez, said that while she may not be a part of the Boca House, she agrees with Ezell.

“One of the many complaints that I hear about the Boca campus is that parking is very difficult to get and that students often have to spend minutes looking for a decent place to park,” she said.

This part of the governor’s speech resonated with Virginia de Santo, a sophomore majoring in business.

She said, “I have a lot of friends that are commuters to campus. They always tell me that getting parking here is difficult and drawn out.”

Ezell moved on to the problems Greek life faces and the negative image it has thanks to various fraternities and sororities around the country engaging in hazing.

He later reminded the crowd of the good they do for the student community, saying, “We as Greeks are facing a problem … I challenge you all today when you leave this chambers to invest some time learning about what the different councils are all about.”

Ezell went on to address freshmen concerns and said that he is “more than willing” to give the freshman class the tools needed to make their on-campus living experience the best it can be.

He ended his speech with a call to action for students to work together.

“Freshmen on each of the different campuses now have the opportunity to be a part of [the] SG Executive Branch and will bring to the table what the freshman needs,” Ezell said. “So please, work with me, work with my staff, work with our student legislator and work with each other, because each other is all we have.”

Nate Nkumbu is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @FoureyedNate.