SGA promotes Rivalry Week and safety app

The Student Government Association promoted events for Rivalry Week and the “Battle for the Belt” at their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The battle is a reference to the football game between Troy and the University of South Alabama that takes place this Saturday, Oct. 3, in Troy.

“We spent all summer asking and also had a poll at the UAC Fall Fling event, for this name and one that got the most votes was ‘Battle for the Belt,’” said Maxwell Herman, a junior hospitality management major from Panama City, Florida. “We chose this name also because it goes along with our area, which is called the “Bible Belt” or the “Sun Belt”.

“Then, we decided that we can make the trophy a wrestling belt. We really want to strengthen out rivalry and make it mean more than what we already have.”

Some Rivalry Week events had to be rescheduled because of the rain. The car bash, scheduled for Monday, will be hosted on Friday, Oct. 2, at the social quad.

Students will be allowed to spray paint an old car from 10 a.m. to noon. The football team will join the event at noon to begin bashing the car with a sledgehammer.

The SGA pep rally will be on Thursday, Oct. 1, with the theme “Do it for Dr. Doug.” It will be dedicated to the late Dr. Robert Douglas “Doug” Hawkins, who served on the Troy University Board of Trustees for 35 years and passed away in early September.

The SGA Night Walk, which was supposed to happen after the meeting, was postponed due to the rain. The new time and date has not been scheduled yet.

It was also mentioned that the university has been working on using the Companion app to promote safety around campus, especially during night time.

SGA President Heath Barton, a senior global business major from Opp, explained how the app functions.

“Let’s say I have it (the app) and Shelby has it,” he said. “12 o’clock at night, I am walking from Trojan Center to fraternity row, and I feel scared and uncomfortable. I can send Shelby a request through this app to be my companion and she has to accept it.”

“Once she accepts it, she is able to keep track of my path and see where I am all time until I get to my destination,” Barton said.

“At any point that I feel scared or somebody comes up to me, if I shake my phone or drop my phone or yank headphones out of my ears, for 15 seconds it (the app) asks if I am okay,” he said. “If I don’t respond in 15 seconds, it will create a really loud noise that will scare off the offender.”

“If that continues until a certain time, it will send the messages to the police and your friends,” Barton said.

The Hospitality and Tourism Club of Troy University was also approved at the meeting. SGA will vote on the formation of the Pi Gamma Mu international honor society for social sciences at next week’s meeting.