While the status of former student body president Hogan Medlin’s student arts innovation endowment remains vague, a separate student group is prepared to offer its own vision of the future of the University’s artistic community.

On the same day Hogan Medlin left office as student body president, he came home to find his next chapter in life waiting in his mailbox. Medlin learned that he, along with best friend and fellow senior Emma Din, was offered a Fulbright grant to teach English overseas.

After Student Congress passed a bill March 15 clarifying certain members of student government’s executive branch cannot run for another elected position without resigning, Medlin vetoed the bill.

Student Body President Hogan Medlin didn’t have much time to present the findings of his Arts Innovation Steering Committee to the members of the Board of Trustees’ university affairs committee Wednesday afternoon.

Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s Arts Innovation Steering Committee is moving toward a clearer vision of its mission. A recently announced $20,000 grant will help establish an student arts endowment devoted to promoting original creative works on campus. But the committee stil has two more chances to finalize its ideas before the next meeting of the Board of Trustees in March, where Medlin will formally present the plan.

Student Congress voted 23-7, with one abstaining vote, to let Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s veto on the redistricting bill stand at its meeting Tuesday night. Speaker of Congress Deanna Santoro originally introduced the bill but said that in the end, it didn’t even seem like her bill anymore.

We endorsed Speaker Deanna Santoro’s Student Congress redistricting bill earlier this month. In spite of Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s official veto, this bill still deserves to pass. Student Congress should vote tonight to override Medlin.

The passage of the redistricting bill that has been discussed and tweaked by Student Congress for three months was stalled Nov. 23 due to a veto — Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s first. But the veto is likely to be overridden tonight at the full meeting of Student Congress, several members of the body said.

The Arts Innovation Steering Committee is still looking for its focus. In its second meeting last Friday in the Student Union, Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s collection of University officials in artistic and academic policy offered few concrete goals. But the committee, which Medlin hopes will form the backbone of his eventual legacy at UNC, continues to foster big dreams.

As the effects of Halloween have finally worn off and exams loom in the not-too distant future, there is a lull in our typical fast-paced lives as students. We in student government are taking this time to stop and reflect on the journey we have taken since beginning our term last April. The October Report chronicles all of student government’s activities in the past seven months and is one way we maintain transparency in everything we do

Innovation is the buzzword these days at UNC, said Student Body President Hogan Medlin. His Arts Innovation Steering Committee — a group of students and faculty concerned about artistic endeavors at UNC — is an appropriate complement to efforts already underway to encourage scientific innovation. The committee hopes to enact an expendable arts fund to which campus organizations and alumni could donate. The money from the fund would go toward establishing a greater arts curriculum at UNC, as well as other smaller projects including renting out art supplies and providing space for artists to display their work.

Policies to keep attendance low at Halloween festivities have proven more trick than treat for Duke University. In an effort to enforce the policies, Student Body President Hogan Medlin wrote a letter to three universities, including Duke, asking that students not attend. The letter, which was also sent to N.C.

In ten years, if a UNC student majoring in business is able to capitalize on University resources to sculpt, paint, sing or dance, Hogan Medlin’s vision for the campus will be complete. On Friday, the Student Body President formally launched the Arts Innovation Steering Committee, a group that aims to direct the future of arts education and creation at UNC.

Hogan Medlin has his sights set on a bill currently making its way through Student Congress that would make it more difficult for students to run for student body president. The 22-page bill is an overhaul of student elections law and includes an amendment that would raise the number of signatures required for candidates to appear on the ballot from 1,000 to 1,500.

Correction (April 7 12:51 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story ncorrectly states the date of Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s inauguration, which was Tuesday, April 6th. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Hogan Medlin won the student body president runoff election Tuesday night, maintaining his status as the election’s front-runner when he swept to a substantial victory over Shruti Shah.

Medlin received 61 percent of the vote, while Shah received 39 percent. All results are preliminary until the Board of Elections certification, which must occur by Saturday.

The Daily Tar Heel's editorial board posed these questions to each of the candidates. Here are their unedited responses:

Q: What is your philosophy regarding tuition? (out-of-state vs. in-state)
 
A: Carolina is a public institution – this is first and foremost. I am an advocate for keeping tuition at an affordable cost, reflecting the school’s dedication to remaining as a public university, as it was founded. That said, I also recognize the inevitable difference between in-state and out-of-state student tuition costs for attending UNC.
In-state students and their families pay North Carolina taxes; these taxes are part of the funding the university receives from the NC General Assembly.

On the way back from a visit to his hometown last year, Hogan Medlin and his friend Emma Din stopped to explore an ostrich farm, only to be met by the owner, wearing overalls, chewing tobacco and toting a shotgun, clearly dismayed by the intruders’ presence.

“I thought for sure he was going to shoot us,” Medlin said.