NC State student senators met Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the final time in the fall 2019 semester to officially institute a treasury branch, appoint students to vacant positions in the Board of Elections and debate a contentious resolution to officially disavow the presence of Border Patrol at NC State events.
At the meeting, three students were up for appointments to vacant Student Government positions.
Cedric Clyburn, a transfer student in computer science, was appointed as Student Government webmaster. Andrew Grierson, a second-year studying biological sciences, and Justin Parkan, a third-year studying aerospace engineering, were appointed as Board of Elections commissioners.
Four bills were placed on the Senate’s Consent Agenda. Any legislation on the agenda is automatically approved unless five senators rise in opposition. All were automatically approved.
GB 66 – Student Fees Proposal Timeline Act – Approved in Consent Agenda
Student fee proposals have to run through Student Senate as a way of soliciting student input on any changes. However, this year, the university provided the proposals to Senate late, “severely limiting the time allowed for Student Government officials to evaluate the proposals,” according to a clause in the bill. One such fee, the Campus Security Fee, was even announced two days before the Oct. 3 Senate meeting, when fees were set to be discussed.
As a result of these recent events, this bill alters the Student Body Statutes to formally oppose any fee proposals that are sent to Senate in a late manner.
GB 90 – The Meetings and Events Publication Act – Approved in Consent Agenda
This bill formalizes publishing of meetings, including committee meetings, legislative bodies, comment periods and town halls. All such meetings will be posted to the public Student Government calendar.
GB 91 – The Open Meeting Requirements Amendment Act – Approved in Consent Agenda
Previously, meetings of governing bodies at NC State could be moved into closed session for a few reasons, including preventing disclosure of confidential information, preventing premature disclosure of awards and consideration of an appointment of an individual. This bill adds a reference to a specific North Carolina General Statute that also pertains to closed meetings.
SB 92 – The Legislation Standards Codification Act – Approved in Consent Agenda
This formally institutes a precedent into the Student Body Statutes regarding titles of legislation. In this and prior sessions, the general rule during second reading Senate periods has been to not alter long titles in ways that would change the original purpose of the legislation.
Six other pieces of legislation were up for second reading.
R 54 – Border Patrol Disavowment Act – Approved after Contentious Debate
This resolution is the Senate’s official stance against the presence of Border Patrol agents on NC State’s campus. Graduate and Lifelong Education Sen. Coleman Simpson, a first-year graduate student in agricultural leadership, said that the resolution also reaffirms Senate’s support for undocumented students.
“Border Patrol entities were recruiting at one of the Poole College of Management career fairs,” Simpson said. “After chatting with some students and some other members of Student Government, we figured a bill was needed to reaffirm our support of undocumented and immigrant students, because a lot of students felt uncomfortable and unsafe by their presence at the career fair.”
Debate began with opposition from Poole College of Management Sen. Nicholas DeBerardino, a first-year studying business administration, said that while he sympathizes with students’ concerns, he sees this legislation as counterproductive.
“I do agree that we need to support the students who felt uncomfortable, but at the same time, this is a public university,” DeBerardino said. “Border Patrol is a facet of the United States government. Opposing their presence, I think that goes against one of our most boasted attributes as NC State university, being inclusive.”
Graduate and Lifelong Education Sen. James Withrow, a Ph.D. student in biology and entomology, argued that inclusivity does not apply to government entities and said what’s ultimately important to consider is how students feel about the presence of Border Patrol agents on the campus.
DeBerardino said that it’s also important to consider that the organization was just doing its job in looking to recruit students. He argued that it should be allowed to participate in events on campus.
First Year Student Sen. Thomas Jackson, a first-year studying horticulture, said in cases where people experience traumatic events as children associated with Border Patrol or agents of similar organizations, even the presence of such people at career fairs can cause such trauma to resurface.
College of Sciences Sen. Eric Warren, a first-year studying statistics, said after learning about the bill, he conducted a poll of students to gauge what his constituents thought.
“I asked the question to College of Science students and non-College of Science students, ‘Do you feel threatened with the thought of Border Patrol at a career fair or any kind of NC State university event?’” Warren said.
Warren said that of College of Science students, two-thirds of respondents said they were not at all threatened by the presence of such agents. Approximately 23% were somewhat threatened, and 10% were very threatened. Warren said he received similar results from non-College of Science students.
Warren said he sampled students in several classes and also posted the survey on his Instagram page. Several senators were concerned with Warren’s polling methodology, as the results may not have been a fully representative sample of the College of Sciences. Warren also acknowledged there may be nonresponse bias, as this was a voluntary survey.
Senators also criticized Warren’s poll for requiring the use of an NC State login, because the survey asked students about their immigration status, and senators were worried undocumented students could be identified, but Warren said emails were anonymized.
The resolution was ultimately approved with 36 votes in support, two against and four abstentions.
R 87 – The Keep the Farmers Market the Same! Act – Unanimously Passed
This resolution shows support for agricultural producers and wholesalers, as well as the current structure of the State Farmers Market, in the wake of a proposed plan to make alterations to it. It also requests that the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reevaluate the plan, keeping in mind the best interests of farmers.
Simpson said the motivation behind the bill had to do with NC State’s roots as a land-grant university and simply requested that if the market changes, farmers be kept in mind.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Sen. Max Hagaman, a second-year studying communication and agricultural business management, said the plan wouldn’t affect the average consumer, but wholesale farmers would be affected.
GB 89 – Let’s Make CENTS Act – Unanimously Passed
This bill aims to create an official treasury branch in Student Government which would envelop Senate’s finance and appropriations committees. Student Body Treasurer Garrison Seitz, a second-year studying civil engineering, spoke about other facets of the bill.
“Current statutes has the office of the treasury and the department of the treasury both accomplishing different duties,” Seitz said. “With this bill, it codifies that both these bodies are under an overall treasury branch.”
Seitz said a large part of the reforms has to do with reforming appropriations. With the new branch, there is opportunity for more involvement from senators, he said.
“Appropriations is such a large function of SG, I believe it should be a sole focus of a single body in SG, such as the department of the treasury,” Seitz said. “With this bill, it reforms the process, in which many members of SG can be part of the process, listen to student organizations, and assist in the deliberations of the allocations.”
R 93 – Senate Bill 199 Commendation Act – Unanimously Passed
This resolution is a formal show of support for the recently passed North Carolina Senate Bill 199, which changed the state’s legal definition of consent, defining rape as occurring in cases where consent is revoked. According to The News & Observer, the bill closed a decades-old loophole on the definition of rape, and North Carolina was the only state that had said loophole before this change.
R 98 – The Downs Board Member Thank You Act – Passed
This resolution is the Senate’s formal way of thanking Bradley Downs, a transfer student in political science, for his service on the Board of Elections over the past two sessions.
With 39 votes in support, three against and zero abstentions, the resolution passed.
R 99 – The Tummallapalli Board Member Thank You Act – Passed
Similarly to the previous resolution, this is a formal thanks given to another board member, Ananya Tummallapalli, a fourth-year studying biological sciences, for her work on the Board of Elections over the past four sessions.
With 39 votes in support, three against and zero abstentions, the resolution passed.
After the meeting, some senators left comments through a press release. Jackson commended Warren for conducting his survey and defending his position in the debate of R 54, even though the two senators held different opinions.
“The tense issue we were discussing did add emotional weight to the room, but the Senator represented a minority viewpoint dutifully and with class,” Jackson said. “Although our viewpoints differed, I hope to emulate the way he conducted himself in all tense situations going forward.”
First Year Student Sen. Emily Oppold, a first-year studying statistics, said she found it disheartening that so many senators came out in opposition to Warren in a heated way. Oppold personally felt intimidated by future debates where she might have strong opinions and commended Warren for sticking to his position.
“It took a lot of courage for the senator to reveal his survey tonight and to answer all inquiries about it for a long period of time,” Oppold said. “He single handedly was able to do this, which takes a lot of courage and boldness. There were definitely improvements that could have been made to the survey and I have already received resources related to surveying on campus that I will be sharing with my delegation.”
