Student body president Brett Rocheleau and vice president Katie Rose, who took office Sunday, said Rocheleau's experience as vice president last year, combined with their new platform, will help this year's administration strengthen relationships on and off campus, improve safety and modernize Notre Dame.
Rocheleau said the connections he made as last year's student body vice president will be important in achieving the goals outlined in the new administration's platform.
"Pat [McCormick, student body president emeritus] and I began to build relationships with everyone, all the way from [University President] Fr. John Jenkins, the Provost's Office, Faculty Senate, different student organizations, to the community as we took office," he said. "Now we have those established, so we'll just build Katie in."
Rose said she looked forward to joining the network established during the last administration.
"I'm really excited ... that the groundwork is laid for them," she said. "The people we talk to can help us tremendously."
Rose said the first goal of the administration is to improve constituent services.
"We want a two-way connection where we keep people updated on things they asked us to work on," she said.
Rocheleau said he hopes to run a student government that is transparent to the student body.
"Every other week we will update them on the process," he said. "Students need to feel comfortable working with us. The accountability side is important."
The Rocheleau-Rose platform also aims to reach beyond campus and deepen Notre Dame's roots in the South Bend community, he said.
"Five years ago tensions were at a high, but as each administration goes by, it gets better," Rocheleau said. "Our administration will value keeping these up and working with the community."
Rocheleau said the pair has already worked to improve campus safety by advocating for the installation of more lights on campus and popular places for students off-campus.
"Putting up simple lights can deter crime and assaults," he said. "Also, off campus there was a lot of crime first semester this year. It will be a challenge to get lights installed since it's not land owned by Notre Dame, but we'll work with the mayor's office."
Rose said the team also hopes to modernize the University through improvements in sustainability and the introduction of new campus groups.
"We love Notre Dame and its traditions, but we also want to bring the campus up to a modern standard," she said.
She said the two would continue striving for the past administrations' goal to connect Notre Dame to the global community, as well.
"Like Pat and Brett's administration, we want to make Notre Dame a forum for social concerns, and make it easier for student to access funding to go abroad," Rose said.
Rocheleau said he and Rose hope to represent the student body in the fullest capacity.
"Our position is to represent the students, even if it goes against what other people say," he said. "If it's what the students believe, we want their voices to be heard. That will have made us successful, if we can embody what the students on this campus feel."
