Java Bean and Bakery is planning to hand out samples of their menu items during the Student Government “Prowlin with the Prez” event Tuesday in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The October program is called “Pastries with the Prez” and will be hosted from at 3:30 p.m.

Stephen Simpson, the student vice president for academic affairs, said the student government executive board and Eastern President David Glassman would be handing out the samples.

Simpson said that the President Glassman is fairly new, so the Java event will help Glassman get to know the student body more.

“(We want) to grab student and break them into the president,” Simpson said. “He’s still pretty fresh and I’m sure some students were not able to make the first prowl event.”

Java will be providing samples of their current menu items, as well as some that may be used in the future, for the executive board and Glassman to pass out to students.

Simpson said Java has been very generous and has worked well with student government in the past for prowl events.

Simpson said the prowl events are a good time for students to talk to Glassman about anything they would like, whether there are problems they see in the university or just getting to know him.

“We hear all of these rumors like (the budget crisis shutting down campus) and if we could take that right to the source, I think that’s important,” Simpson said.

Simpson said he would like to see more students come out to the prowl events with Glassman.

Student government is the voice of the student body and Simpson said he believes it is their job to show off every aspect of the university to the student body.

“For peer to peer it’s us saying ‘hey, look, President Glassman is a real person’,” Simpson said. “It’s not the administration telling us to meet our president.”

Simpson said peers have a bigger impact on each other than the administration.

With Glassman being a new president, Simpson said it is both the responsibility of the students as well as Glassman to get to know each other.

Simpson said Glassman is excited to meet Eastern students when he has the chance.

“He’s excited to see a diverse group of students,” Simpson said. “(We) hope there are different students and that he gets to see everyone.”

Simpson said he wants students to know that the prowl events are not made for student government, but for the student body.

“I meet with Glassman once a month and I am getting to know him on a personal level,” Simpson said. “I want the student body to be able to be aware of things.”

Simpson said these prowl events are different than the ones with former Eastern President Bill Perry.

“Those were more of a ‘big bang goodbye President Perry’,” Simpson said. “We’re still trying to see how comfortable President Glassman is.”

Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at mgfreund@eiu.edu.