During a Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, Joanne Fanfan, a student senator, raised concerns among Nest residents that the new security company, Page Security, was overchecking student IDs. The meeting was held on Feb. 6, 2024, at NEIU’s main campus.

“A lot of students felt very uncomfortable with the way that has been going,” Sen. Fanfan said. One student, she said, had been checked three times in a short period of time. “A few students, I would say, that are concerned are mostly Black-identified students,” Fanfan added.

Terry Mena, NEIU’s Vice President for Student Affairs, told the SGA that Page Security had just started the day before. “And so, they’re new,” he said. “That could be part of the transitional thing is that they’re still getting acclimated to what their tasks and roles are.”

Mena went on to say that the administration is “re-emphasizing” policies that had been discussed in the spring of 2023. He informed the SGA of an email that would go out reminding students of the Nest’s guest policy. An email to that effect did go out two days later to Nest residents, on Feb 8, 2024.

In addition to the concerns about the Nest, SGA also swore in two new senators, Asianna Martin and Sai Nikhel Reddy.

Martin is a political science graduate student. She said she joined SGA to be one of the Black voices and to advocate for marginalized students. She supports the creation of social places that are safe, where students feel that they belong.

Reddy is in the Computer Science program and an international student from India. He wanted to join SGA to advocate for international students. Specifically, he intends to advocate for mental health access and scholarship assistance for international students at NEIU.

SGA President EJ Schumacher also noted SGA currently lacks student representation from NEIU’s El Centro campus in Avondale and the Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (CCICS) in Bronzeville. They urge anyone from those campuses who would like to represent the students studying at those locations to apply to join SGA.

SGA also passed two resolutions clarifying their service hour requirements, as well as penalties for not meeting those requirements. SGA members are required to spend four hours each week in service to the NEIU community, as well as write two reports on student events they attend. Members will lose their stipend pay if they do not complete at least 75% of those hours. Both resolutions passed unanimously.