Student Senate held its second to last meeting of the 97th session on Wednesday evening that included several presentations from campus organizations and the first and seconds readings of legislation, including the Women of Color Village Task Force Support Act and the Pride Village Task Force Support Act.
Student Senate had presentations from various campus departments. University Recreation began with a display of the plans made to renovate Carmichael Gym, inspired by facilities at different universities.
Eric Hawkes, director of University Recreation, hopes to complete the project by fall 2020. Hawkes urges any students with questions about how they will be affected by the project to go to University Recreation’s website and reach out to them.
“We are happy to come talk,” Hawkes said. “We are willing to listen.”
University Police Major Ian Kendrick discussed support services and safety on campus, followed by a presentation from the Office of Information Technology about phishing attacks on campus.
Student Senate heavily discussed several bills during its meeting. Resolution 65, Faculty Diversity Act, is an act to address a lack of faculty diversity at NC State.
“Faculty seems in favor of this,” said Sen. Adam Schmidt, a second-year studying civil engineering representing the College of Engineering and Senate president pro tempore. “Given all that’s going on in the UNC System, it is important to express our support.”
Without any con debate, Resolution 65 passed unanimously.
Resolution 70, Pride Village Task Force Support Act, is an act to encourage University Housing to explore the creation of a Pride Village. Sen. Case Cody, a fourth-year studying business administration and political science representing the Poole College of Management, supported the bill.
“I am passionate about LGBTQ issues,” Cody said. “ We’ve been able to make this bill a lot more impactful. Students are very excited to see the first steps happening. In talking with administration, I think we have their support.”
The Pride Village Task Force Support Act passed.
Resolution 71, the Women of Color Village Task Force Support Act, encourages housing departments to explore creating a living and learning community focused on issues relating to women of color.
“Women of color do not feel well-supported by the campus,” said J Hallen, director of Diversity Outreach. “A living and learning village would allow the the building of community and would fill the void created by other cultural intersection villages.”
President Jackie Gonzalez, a fourth-year studying political science, advocated for the bill.
“This village would do wonders for our campus climate,” Gonzalez said. “It is important to talk about it every day until we don’t have to defend ourselves anymore.”
With a unanimously supportive vote, the bill successfully passed.
Resolution 81, the Senate Attendance Update Act, was proposed to amend Student Body Statutes to update Senate attendance requirements.
The bill allows the Student Senate President of the 98th session to select required events, retreats and trainings for senators. Sen. Schmidt is the sponsor of the bill.
“This is a good way to hold ourselves accountable for hearing constituents,” Schmidt said.
Many senators had concerns that the language was too vague regarding what kind of impact the legislature would have on senators ability to be involved in other leadership opportunities on campus. Many senators agree a change in level of commitment is necessary, but should happen through culture; not legislation.
Sen. Sean Harrington, a fourth-year studying political science representing the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, proposed an amendment to Resolution 81 to increase the accumulated absences from five to seven.
“To me it makes sense to increase required attendance,” Harrington said. “You need to increase the amount of absences.”
The bill and amendment were not passed.
Finance Bill 93, the Traditions Allocations Act, was moved up in the agenda. Student Body Treasurer Molly Mueller, a third-year studying political science and international studies, advocated to disperse funds back to the Traditions Department. After much debate over semantics, the bill was passed.
There was unanimous support for considering the bill for SolarPack Funding, the ‘Run. Dance. Glow’ Finance Act and International Festival at NC State Finance Act NC State in block. All bills were passed.
Senate then moved into a closed session to vote on the Jenny Chang award nominations.
Senate has a total of five seats open: two in the College of Design and one in Poole College of Management, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Education. Interested students need to fill out an application if interested. The last Senate meeting of the 97th Student Government session is on March 28 in room 4140 of Talley Student Union.
Senior Director of Outreach, Communications and Consulting (OCC) Stan Martin speaks during the student Senate meeting on Wednesday at Talley Student Union. Martin helped answer questions about 2-Factor Authentication during the meeting, along with going over additional services that the OCC provides.
