A week after the decision to rename D Street to Wildcat Way, Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Associated Students of Central Washington University (ASCWU) Hauke Harfst has said that no student fees will be spent on the street signs for the new Wildcat Way.

Interviewed after last week’s ASCWU Board of Directors meeting, Harfst said they wanted to clarify to students that no student funds were used for the street name change.

In mid-September, the ASCWU proposed changing the name of D Street to Wildcat Way. The Ellensburg City Council approved the name change last week, and new signs will be installed over the next few weeks.

Harfst said some people worried the board was going to spend student funds to buy new signs for the street, but clarified that donations from Central alumni and various other sources will cover the cost of the project.

He said that the ASCWU believes changing D Street to Wildcat Way will help bridge a gap between the community and Central.

Harfst said the new Wildcat Way signs will be officially unveiled during this year’s Homecoming events next week

In other action, the ASCWU:

• Discussed erecting a memorial for veterans. According to Harfst, “we want to see some sort of veteran’s memorial on campus.” He said the Military Science Department is supportive and the project will most likely be expensive but it “is definitely something we want to see this year.”
• Discussed the proposed art fee, which failed last year. Nina Caldwell, vice president for legislative affairs, said the ASCWU wanted to revisit the proposal in the future.
• Changed the board meeting time to Friday’s at 9 a.m. rather than Monday’s at 7 p.m., in order to enable all seven members to attend. “It’s hard getting a schedule that fits for seven people,” noted John De Han, executive vice president of ASCWU. Members, however, said the meeting times could move to another day and time next quarter.
• Discussed many of ASCWU-sponsored special events planned for the coming year, including Touch a Truck, Wellington Wildfire, Homecoming, a campus Haunted House and My Costume is Not Consent. The latter, which will be held on Oct. 30, is an event designed to draw attention to the problem of sexual assault. Participants will be issued flashlights that say, “Consent is Sexy.”
• The Wellington Wildfire event, held during Homecoming, will include a bonfire rally with campus athletes, a food truck and a cookout with s’mores. Touch a Truck is an event that involves a contest by student organizations to see which individual can keep his or her hand touching a fire truck the longest. The last club standing receives $1,000. The campus Haunted House will be held in Al-Monty Residence Hall on Oct. 29 to Oct. 30.
• Reminded students that club recognition can now be attained online, and there are still vacancies on the student academic senate, which applicants can also access online.