BY CORIE LYNN
Thursday night, the FHSU Student Government Association focused on passing several bills and one resolution.
The resolution marked the recognition of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The student senators passed a total of six bills, three of which granted line item changes in the budgets of Aikido Club and the campus’s chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Designers.
Additional bills provided funding to FHSU Big Brothers Big Sisters for a trivia night and Disc Golf Club for a trip to compete in Emporia.
The student senators also used this evening to pass the annual SGA budget review. Last year, this budget was raised, which increased the salaries of the executive staff. This year, the budget remained the same.
Though the senators spent much of the meeting voting, they also heard reports from executive staff members and committee chairs.
President Haley Reiter stated that she met with FHSU President Tisa Mason as well as the Memorial Union Policy Board.
She also announced that the University would host a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 20. Participants will receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
At the request of Student Senator Will Barfield, Reiter also updated the group on the status of the Student Emergency Assistance Fund. According to her, the fund is low, but the committee hopes for an influx of donations on the Day of Giving on April 22.
Legislative Affairs Director Crystal Rojas also gave a report, during which she informed the student senators that Free Legal Counselling is scheduled for April 27 and that she spent her week preparing for the new LAD’s transition.
Of the committees that reported, two had bills up for second readings that night, and two, which were the Student Relations and Involvement and the Legislative and Political Action Committees, discussed diversity on campus and in the SGA.
Continuing the topic of diversity, Barfield used the Open Forum to ask Dr. Teresa Clounch what steps were being taken to promote diversity on campus following the discussion with the Black Student Union and supporters the previous week.
According to Clounch, she is chairing a committee of students from diverse backgrounds, and is in the process of putting the committee together.
“I hope to have one meeting before the semester is over,” she said.
As the meeting drew to a close, there were a few short announcements, which included Rojas explaining she would like to draft a resolution supporting the actions toward inclusion on campus and Vice President Bryson Homman stating that the SGA will hold their next meeting over Zoom.