MUBOG History
Origins
The Memorial Union Building was built in 1957 and was meant to serve student interests. About a decade after the MUB opened, students became disgruntled with the way the building did not feel like it was “theirs” because the administration was unresponsive to input on student needs. This growing discontent culminated in the first iteration of the Memorial Union Board of Governors beginning to take shape in 1968.
This founding group intended the Board to be representative of all constituencies that utilized the MUB and originally consisted of representatives for undergraduates, faculty, operating staff, programming administrative and technical staff, student activities staff, and fraternity/sorority life. It soon expanded to include a representative from the Thompson School, the Student Activity Fee Committee, both SAFO and non-SAFO organizations (then called SATO for ‘tax’ rather than ‘fee’), students from all three areas on campus, a commuter, a graduate student, an alum, and a liaison with Student Senate. In those days, MUBOG was essentially equal to the Director of the Memorial Union Building and often communicated with the Dean of Students and even the University President. MUBOG’s old Space Allocation and Utilization Committee was in charge of allocating office space, posting space, and event space in the MUB. There was also a Budgets Committee for the MUB Fee and a Public Relations Committee that recruited members and kept people in the loop of MUBOG’s activities. At times, various ad-hoc committees were raised to raise awareness and improve the accuracy and accessibility of the Memorial Room as well as to decide how the large-scale MUB basement renovations during the 1990s would be facilitated and how the new space would be divided up.
Downfall
In 2018 and 2019, Student Senate fell into the hands of several ill-intentioned individuals, namely the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. They abused their power and created a culture of fear and coercion to maintain control of young student senators by making them feel special and like they had potential. This toxic power structure reached a level that became grooming. In the fall of 2019, a whistleblower came forward with this information which launched an investigation into the pervasive issues in Student Senate at the time. The members of Senate who were abusing their power also had ties to individuals who were involved with MUBOG leadership through a fraternity that was known to use tactics like those mentioned above to consolidate power in student government. Thus, it was impossible to separate the issues in Senate from MUBOG because the members were all potentially involved. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker stepped down in February and Senate carried on, but when FY20 came to a close, no one from MUBOG exec returned the following year. In FY21, MUBOG was effectively nonexistent.
Rebuilding
In the spring of 2021, the Student Body President and Student Senate Academic Affairs Chair approached a pair of first-year senators who had stood out as hardworking individuals and helped them scrap together the rough outline of MUBOG. The two of them, joined by a third student from outside of student government, formed the FY22 MUBOG Executive Board as Chairperson, Vice Chairperson of MUB Affairs, and Vice Chairperson of Student Leadership. They worked closely with the Director of Memorial Union and Student Activities who was hired in March of 2021 to rebuild the organization throughout the year. They had many great accomplishments for three sophomores with no experience restarting an organization from scratch. The MUB Professional Staff also had a lot of new members which MUBOG helped onboard in FY22. As they have learned and grown together, MUBOG and the MUB Professional Staff have worked to make processes and policies more equitable and clearer for students in the MUB. Most notable of these achievements was their success reinstating the Space Allocation process which had fallen through the cracks when MUBOG dissolved.
Restarting Space Allocation was not an easy task. Student organizations had grown accustomed to automatically retaining their spaces year to year. Wrongs that sat uncorrected because of a lack of the governing body were difficult to right. Chasing people down to reapply was difficult. The process was not entirely thought out. Precedents needed to be set.
MUBOG developed a new process that integrated the application with hearings where the organizations come before the Space Allocation Committee to explain their membership, purpose, and current or proposed use of the space they are applying for to increase equity and promote more interaction between MUBOG and the organizations it supports. FY22 Space Allocation, while not without its bugs, was generally a success. The first turnover in office space the MUB saw in years removed organizations that had expired due to COVID and ensured that space was given to deserving organizations.
MUBOG navigated some delicate situations during the Space Allocation process. One, in particular, was the somewhat strained relationship between MUBOG and Graduate Student Senate. Due to decisions of previous executive boards, misunderstandings, and COVID-19 there were issues regarding office space. GSS had moved to T-Hall under the impression they would have a space there and relinquished their space in the MUB, but it turned out that T-Hall was more of a graduate student lounge and had no private offices for dealing with sensitive information privy only to members of Grad Senate. This situation was eventually remedied and MUBOG has fostered a friendly and collaborative relationship with its GSS representatives who once again occupy the MUB.
MUBOG also successfully ran the Student Leadership Awards in May, promoting the nominations, forming the deliberation committee, and putting together the event itself in conjunction with MUB Professional Staff.
MUBOG had several failures in FY22. In the past, MUBOG ran the Organizational Oversight Committee which oversaw conduct and recognition of student organizations. When MUBOG tried to restart this committee, it was faced with significant pushback from MUB Professional Staff. Ultimately, those powers now lie with the MUB Professional Staff, reason being that those responsibilities were carried out by MUBOG, it would take away the purpose from the MUB Professional Staff. Another setback MUBOG faced was their mural project. It was meant to beautify the MUB and represent the community, but at the last moment, MUB Professional Staff approval was taken away for the student organization design and MUBOG and SAFC chose to scrap it if it was not going to be student oriented. This decision was disappointing for all the students involved, but MUBOG FY23 is optimistic that they will figure out a way to complete a MUB mural eventually.
Recent History
At the end of FY22, there was another exec restructure resulting in five positions: Chair, Vice Chair, Business Manager, Outreach Coordinator, and Historian. These five executive board members each work hard to run meetings, record minutes, and work on special projects and are so dedicated to their roles that they have been doing so without honoraria, as did the FY22 executive board. One initial project MUBOG took on was developing a website to display information on committees and processes, contacting members, links for applying for space, how to join, and other resources. For MUBOG, FY23 was all about trying to find its place and purpose. They continued to streamline the Space Allocation Process and introduced new committees to explore other areas for MUBOG to have in its purview, such as the MUB Fee (Fee Advisory Committee) and MUB programming (Programming and Leadership Committee). One issue from FY22 was the lack of an option to handle more immediate requests for space, so in FY23, a new application was developed to handle those requests with stipulations that only storage could be allocated mid-year and that use of this avenue would be closely monitored to prevent organizations from using mid-year instead of the regular application to keep their space.
They forged a strong relationship with SAFC and together accomplished a long-awaited furniture revamp by working with SAFC to use the leftover funds from the COVID years to get new hard and soft furniture in every student organization office space in the MUB. From brainstorming and purchasing to coordinating and participating in old furniture removal and beyond with guiding the installers through the process, MUBOG was there. Though the installation was delayed due to supply chain issues, it was a great success and their joint efforts with SAFC are encouraging student organizations to get better and more frequent use of the spaces that they occupy because they enjoy the spaces more. In a similar vein, SAFC and MUBOG signed an MOU allowing MUBOG to officially take on the role of representing student organizations’ requests for office improvements that are more specific to student organization spaces and were not completed in the broad overhaul.
Another project MUBOG took on with SAFC was the Shared Inventory. Once again funded by leftover student money due to a lack of spending by organizations during COVID, the Shared Inventory space created a space in the basement of the MUB where student organizations can use craft supplies and check out items for events. This space is adjacent to the new Storage Room for student organization storage bins allocated by MUBOG. The new storage room’s cataloging system is another brainchild of FY23 MUBOG, using laminated cards, codes, and spreadsheets to stay organized with respect to which organization holds what bin and where it is meant to be on the shelves. MUBOG was an integral part of moving the many bins and several storage lockers to the basement from the first-floor storage room and the purge of old materials in unallocated and misused bins.
The Matchmaker Survey was another success of FY23 MUBOG. Inspired by a COVID-era survey done to help students find organizations that match their interests, MUBOG developed a second iteration meant to be done each year by working with MUB Professional Staff members and student organizations.
Student Senate Merger
At many steps during the year, MUBOG has struggled with its sense of self. An inability to maintain attendance from members crushed the spirits of the executive board at times. Another blow was when questions arose about developing a Student Governance Association which would essentially take over MUBOG’s role as the platform for all student governments to congregate and coordinate. The longevity of the organization was a growing concern as At-Large Members were difficult to recruit and prepare for leadership positions. It seemed that the possibility of MUBOG crumbling when the exec board all simultaneously graduated was very real. These factors culminated in exec’s decision to join Student Senate in FY24. The idea was that Senate commanded respect that MUBOG did not and as a subsidiary body of Senate, MUBOG would not have the same issues with attendance by its own members. Additionally, Student Senate reaches more people and tends not to struggle with leadership takeovers so being closer to a larger pool of dedicated people would benefit MUBOG’s membership. This merger also brings MUBOG closer to SAFC which makes good sense considering how both governments work to serve student organizations in complementary manners. As an added bonus, becoming a part of Student Senate now allows MUBOG exec to receive honoraria to compensate them for their efforts throughout the year as for the previous two years, the members had been working for free.
Today
Following the approval of the merger, MUBOG has been working to bring its new vision to fruition. The new hierarchy has altered MUBOG's structure once again in order to be more in tune with the rest of Student Senate. As FY24 progresses, MUBOG hopes to see projects through to completion that began in FY23, achieve a more lively membership, and work to improve its processes under the newly restructured Board and executive roles.
