Student leaders organize ideas for ULM support

The Student Government Association debated ways to increase community awareness and involvement in ULM at their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

The SGA is working on three big initiatives to promote the University  partnering with businesses to display ULM flags in their offices, increasing the number of locations that accept Warhawk Express and finding a way to remind stores how much of their money comes from ULM students.

President Brooke Dugas said she has been working with Mike Trevathan, the executive director of auxiliary enterprise administration, on the projects listed above.

Dugas and SGA senators pitched ideas about how businesses can display their support for ULM. Many liked the idea of window flags featuring the recognizable ULM logo of a warhawk swooping down above the school’s letters.

Plans are still being worked out to set up these flags in businesses and to provide incentives for them to have the flags.

Dugas said Trevathan has also been working closely with several area restaurants to set up Warhawk Express. Senators voted on the most popular restaurants for Dugas to take back to Trevathan.

Warhawk Express works like a stored-value card, with deposits to the card being recorded on student fee bills.

A card with the working name “Ace Bucks” is also underway to help show businesses how much money ULM sends their way. The card has no monetary value.

“Every time you go to a business and you pay something, you’ll also hand them this card,” Dugas explained. “This is really bringing to their attention that without [ULM] they probably wouldn’t have a business.”

All programs are still in the early stages of development. No clear timetable has been set for implementing them.