With no special guest presentations this week, the Student Government Association (SGA) began its April 10 meeting with special orders of business.
In the meeting, the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) presented a request for a protected seat in the senate. Currently, they have an unprotected seat, which means that if they lose their seat, they would also lose their representation, according to President Pro Tempore Brenna Large.
According to Large, having a protected seat would allow them to “retain their representation in the senate,” which means they can always have representation even if they choose to stop sending a representative to the meetings.
In the past, YDSA spearheaded many initiatives such as protesting against Senate Bill 202, discussing raising campus wages and volunteering with the Soup Kitchen of Muncie.
The senate approved their protected seat with 31 yays, two nays, and two abstentions.
Next up, President Joseph Gassensmith gave his state of the student body.
On his list of accomplishments from this year, he said his administration completed 25 out of 27 platform points which is more than any SGA executive board in the past six years, according to Gassensmith.
“Now, obviously, at some of those points, we had to adapt what the point was, but the spirit of the point was cast no matter what,” Gassensmith said.
He also mentioned that SGA invested more money this year than any other, with about $41,000 reinvested in students and the Ball State community.
One of the initiatives Gassensmith said he was most proud of was the addition of the new bus stop shelter on McKinley Avenue, as well as a new blue light tower that will be placed near the Scheidler Apartments.
“We were able to turn SGA from a very dramatic organization to one that is a well-oiled machine. It made a real impact,” Gassensmith said.
The senate then transitioned into executive reports.
Vice President Monet Lindstrand started and reminded the senators of the upcoming Take Back The Night event on April 24, where survivors of sexual assault can share their stories.
Treasurer Isacc Ledford gave a brief overview of all the initiatives the senate spent money on this school year.
This spending included SGA shirts, a portion of the homecoming parade, community garden improvements, survey tabling with the organizational caucus, north quad urinal dividers, new charging stations, funding many sexual assault awareness events this month and more.
“The overall senate invested 89.3 percent of their budget as opposed to last year’s 50.68 percent,” Ledford said. “Although the allocation was higher last year, the senate invested $6,695 as opposed to last year’s $5,068.”
The senators were then asked to vote on an amendment to the SGA elections code for unfinished business. According to the amendment change request, this would make it so “in the event that three or more candidates run [for a cabinet position], the candidate receiving a majority of votes cast, per rank choice voting, shall be declared the winner.”
This was approved with 34 yays, one nay, and two abstentions.
With no new business to vote on, the meeting was adjourned.
Contact Meghan Braddy with comments via email at meghan.braddy@bsu.eduor on X @meghan_braddy.
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