Student Government approves funding for the Neurodivergent Student Support Organization and funds catering costs for Puerto Rican Cultural Night.

At their final meeting of the semester, the Senate approved $1,150 for the Neurodivergent Student Support Organization. The money will be allocated for advertising, local trips, guest speakers and a skills coach.

The organization was started over the summer by Alexander Vickery and aims to uplift neurodivergent students and help keep them on the path to success.

“Neurodivergent students face quite a few challenges in college,” Vickery said. “They’re transitioning from a home environment. They have all this freedom that they didn’t have before, and sometimes that can be toxic. There are more steady state issues they experience after the initial shock of adjustment like social deficits, executive functioning and misunderstanding resulting from a disparity of theory of mind–what they think people are thinking vs what other people actually think–so our organization was formed to address that.”

As highlighted by Vickery, Iowa State does not have an official organization that provides help for neurodivergent students, so the Senate partnering with this organization is a big step forward in representing the neurodivergent community.

“It is especially important to support these students in college,” Vickery said. “Other universities, over 100 in the U.S. at this point, have entire buildings dedicated to this. They have university-funded programs to help neurodivergent students specifically. Iowa State doesn’t.”

The Neurodivergent Student Support Organization will focus on three main areas: advocacy, such as bringing in external speakers, career support to connect students with employers and academic excellence, such as body doubling and awards for academic experience.

“We want to address particular challenges that neurodivergent students face, and we want to empower them,” Vickery said.

The Senate also approved $1,840 of funding to be spent on catering for Puerto Rican Cultural Night, as requested by the Puerto Rican Student Association.

The event will be held Feb. 8 in Durham Hall of the Memorial Union and is expected to attract around 250 attendees.

“The goal of this night is to expose students of Iowa State to Puerto Rican culture, along with building a sense of community,” Evan Price, treasurer of the Puerto Rican Student Association, said.

The event will be free and open to everyone, featuring food, a DJ, a photo booth and other activities.

The Senate approved $250 dollars for the Vex U Cyber Robotics Club to be spent on team registration fees.

Micah Scheaffer, vice president of the club, said the purpose is to “foster an innovative and inclusive environment” where students can explore “their skills in robotics, engineering, problem-solving and logistics.”

“We aspire to cultivate a passion for robotics, and a community dedicated to advancing their knowledge in capabilities not offered in the classroom,” Scheaffer said. 

The Senate approved funds of $300 to be spent on supplies for the Letters of Love club, an organization that provides emotional support for children in local hospitals with hand-written cards from students.