Student Government

Contact: Associate Dean of Students 303-546-3549

The Naropa Student Government is known as the Student Union of Naropa (or SUN).

SUN consists of two active branches: United Naropa (U.N.) and Student Life Programming (S.L.P.).  Each body meets separately, with some overlapping membership. Both groups share in their overarching purpose: to gather and represent the student voice, to empower student engagement, and to provide and support opportunities for student leadership.

United Naropa (U.N.) is comprised of students representing their academic departments with a focus on student action, connections and communication among the departments, and ensuring student input in decision making.

Student Life Programming (S.L.P.) is a committee of students that organizes and supports student life beyond the classroom as they plan various campus activities, oversee the student lounges, and supervise the Student Organizations. Both bodies of SUN have adopted a nonhierarchical structure for conducting its business.

United Naropa (U.N.)
Contact: un@listserv.naropa.edu
Minutes from U.N. Meetings Available!
“As for the students themselves, they should have certain chosen leaders or representatives, selected within each field of study. Some guidelines as to what sort of individuals these representatives should be are:

1. Sympathetic to the overall development of the university;
2. Insightful and willing to be critical;
3. Having a certain basic sophistication in their vision of fellow students and in general;
4. Free from dogma, fads and subjective trips;
5. Dedicated to a sense of personal journey rather than self-aggrandizement.”

—Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

U.N. Mission
Through a functional, cohesive student driven democracy, the U.N. provides students with a forum in which to voice their concerns, issues, questions, ideas and interests; provides faculty and staff with a direct avenue for communication with students; and creates an inclusive community that does not re-act to injustice, but acts in the stance of justice.

What Does the U.N. Do?

• Secures representation from academic departments
• Elects the Board of Trustees Student Representative, who also must be an active U.N. member
• Bridges communication gaps between departments and students
• Communicates to their respective departments and students
• Seats student representatives on administrative committees at Naropa, including the Board of Trustees
• Gathers students voices regarding educational experience and concerns
• Provides students with avenues for action
• Actively engages in retention and support of underrepresented groups
• Engages students about their responsibility for classroom atmosphere and academic learning
• Creates an ongoing newsletter or direct communication of the U.N.s work

Student Life Programming (S.L.P.)
Minutes from U.N. Meetings Available!
Contact: 303-546-3579 or slp@listserv.naropa.eduThrough organization and collaboration, S.L.P. provides opportunities for engagement, learning and entertainment that promote educational, social, and cultural events for students and the larger Naropa community.

What Does the S.L.P. Do?

• Sponsors community-building events, such as Open Mics, Coffee Houses, CODs and Dances
• Designs and supports culturally diverse programming and campaigns
• Supports student engagement on-campus and in the local communities
• Provides leadership training and recognition of student leaders
• Coordinates the campus-wide, annual “Spirit Week”
• Co-sponsors the “Activities Fair”
• Co-creates Town Halls
• Updates a weekly Calendar o’ Love
• Coordinates Student Organizations, by supporting the groups’ formation, offering them resources, holding them accountable, and providing funding for the Student Organizations and their events.

History
The structure of SUN continues to evolve as SUN and Naropa have grown. Over the years, SUN (U.N. and S.L.P.) has been influential in the creation of school policy, as well as consultation for student input on university and budget decisions. SUN works to support Naropa students in many ways. A few of the previous accomplishments of SUN include:

• Establishment of the Student Emergency Fund for students facing emergency conditions.
• Institutionalize that all drinking fountains be filtered water.
• Granting the SUN Award to recognize graduating students who have embodied SUNs vision.
• Creation of the Housing Coordinator position to help current and incoming students find off-campus housing
• Creation of the Student Life Diversity Coordinator and Senior Diversity Officer positions
• And much more!