The Senate of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) heard presentations from the department of Fitness and Recreational Sports (FRS) and from the People Power club, a student organization created by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), at their meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
FRS Director Sheena Harvey presented her department’s budget and a new system FRS is using to organize data on student use of the fitness center. In an email statement to The Nevada Sagebrush, Harvey clarified that FRS is using a Power BI Data Dashboard, a Microsoft product for data visualization. The dashboard “[helps FRS] to view and understand student participation, facility utilization, retention trends and academic outcomes by demographics,” read the email.
Ken Bhardwaj, senator of the School of Medicine & Orvis School of Nursing, asked if FRS was considering proposing another fee increase to the NSHE Board of Regents. Harvey said it’s a possibility due to the scale of their department’s operations and continually rising costs.
Senator Josh Horvath of the Reynolds School of Journalism asked when the bond would be paid off for the E. L. Wiegand Fitness Center. A portion of every student’s fitness fee ($65 per semester for undergraduates) goes toward paying off this bond, used to build the fitness center. Harvey said she didn’t know the exact length of time, but it would take more than twenty years.
Harvey clarified that the Fieldhouse, managed by FRS, is still not ready to be used, even though the University of Nevada, Reno’s President Brian Sandoval will deliver the 2026 State of the University address in the Fieldhouse on Oct. 20. This prompted general questions from the senators about who could use the Fieldhouse. Harvey assured them the Fieldhouse will be available for use by all students.
Harvey said there had been some confusion around this when the Fieldhouse fee was proposed, due to the Fieldhouse’s dual purpose of serving as an indoor practice facility for Nevada Athletics during inclement weather. Harvey said part of the reason the Fieldhouse was built was to improve the football team, prompting laughter from the senators.
Ryan Rushton and Jenna Atencio of the UNR People Power club’s presentation discussed the ACLU’s 2026 midterm election protection program, which Rushton described as a nonpartisan effort to protect people’s right to vote, no matter who they are. Atencio said the ACLU is looking for volunteers in Northern Nevada to monitor polling sites and report voting rights violations, paying particular attention to voter intimidation and potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence at polling locations.
People Power asked ASUN senators to volunteer and to encourage their constituents to do so as well.
