By Andrew Mollenauer

State of Campus Address

In his State of the Campus address Thursday, University President Darryll Pines covered several topics, most notably payment delays for graduate teaching assistants. 

But Pines wasn’t the only member of the university community to speak at the event. Harriet Goers, a PhD candidate studying government and politics, put into perspective the extent to which these delays are impacting her personally. 

“I have not been paid since I taught a course over the winter,” Goers said at the event. “That’s two months, two rounds of rent payments. That is two rounds of utility, gas, water bills [and] countless groceries.”

Goers said that “this is devastating” for her peers who are affected by this as well. 

Pines responded, apologetic and stating that he was unaware of the issue. 

“Let me look into it, and hopefully I can get back in touch with you,” Pines said. “This should not be happening … Please accept my honest and genuine apology.”

Pines brought attention to the consequences of President Donald Trump’s recent executive actions for the university community. He stressed the specific matters of funding and research-related effects should the government shut down. 

“I wanted to assure you that the campus has been tracking what is happening,” Pines said. 

Giving Day at UMD

The university hosted Giving Day, an annual event in which the community fundraises for hundreds of causes, this past Wednesday. 

The annual event, which has been occurring for more than a decade, is a 24-hour-long donation drive for different campus organizations. This year, $5.3 million was raised for over 400 different caused.

Director of Development for the college of education Aaron Bobik, said the philanthropic efforts of the campus community and donors around the world are critical to ensure the success of the college’s graduate students.

“Any fundraising we can do on giving day to support our current graduate students to get through this academic year is a big focus,” Bobik told SBS. 

For Dr. Stephanie Chang, Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, Giving Day’s importance transcends the money itself. 

“Our participation in Giving Day is about our supporters and donors, not in the amount raised, but in the opportunity for supporters of ODI and our units to show their belief in our work,” Chang said.