News

SGA approaches Public Safety to update vehicle decals

Ryan Brentner, SGA Correspondent • March 18, 2026

On Tuesday, March 10, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted unanimously to pass a proposal of $1,625 to help St. Olaf Public Safety purchase new decals for three of their vehicles. The proposal was brought to the senate by SGA President Fiona Mundy ’26, Vice President Karen Henriquez Fajardo ’26, and Secretary of Student Affairs Anna Grace ’26.

Mundy, Enriquez Fajardo, and Grace approached Director of Public Safety Jeff Favreau to establish a partnership to address community concerns over the current look of the Public Safety vehicles. Many students have voiced concerns over the unrecognizable nature of the current vehicles. Enriquez Fajardo shared her own experience, saying in an interview with The Olaf Messenger, “I was walking with my friends up from [Skoglund] a couple of weeks ago, and I saw a Public Safety vehicle … I thought it was potentially an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] or CPB [Customs and Border Protection] vehicle … because it was unrecognizable. I made a joke about it, but I realized hours later that it wasn’t funny and that it was a genuine concern of mine where my heart dropped.”

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While attending an event hosted by the Institute for Freedom and Community (IFC), Enriquez Fajardo and Grace heard from staff and faculty with similar thoughts. “I felt affirmed when we went to an IFC event where we heard faculty and staff voicing those same concerns,” Enriquez Fajardo said.

This project was not something that Public Safety had originally budgeted for the year, so they will be covering $1,000 towards the project’s total cost of $2,625, while SGA will cover the remaining amount. Mundy, Enriquez Fajardo, and Grace all commented on how easy it is to work with Favreau.

“He is new in his role, so I think he is looking to make change … [It] makes working with him easy,” Grace said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. In the same interview, Mundy added, “He cares a lot about the issues that students care about … He has been very open to student perspectives and shares a lot of the same opinions.”

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About the Contributors

Ryan Brentner, SGA Correspondent

Ryan is a junior from Iowa City, IA, majoring in Political Science with a concentration in Race and Ethnic Studies. In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking long walks in the Natural Lands with friends, and watching movies she’s already seen a 100 times. After St. Olaf, Ryan plans to attend law school in a big city and travel to new places.

Jacob Rozell, Visual Director

Jacob Rozell is a sophomore from Fairbanks, Alaska. When he’s not writing, he’s practicing with the Nordic ski team, or distracting his artist friends in CAD. His favorite writers are Wes Anderson, Roald Dahl, and Joan Naviyuk Kane, and his favorite place to be is north of the Arctic Circle. He is applying for the Individual Major.