SGA House and Senate hold final meetings of fall semester
The final general meeting of the year will be Dec. 3
Central Michigan University's Student Government Association began wrapping up the fall semester with its last Senate, House and committee meetings of the year Nov. 26.
The meeting was spent running through additional business that needed to be addressed, such as upcoming events and ongoing initiatives.
In the absence of President Jake Hendricks, Vice President Lyndi Rose provided the executive board update for the general meeting. She announced an update in the ongoing Menstrual Hygiene Product Initiative that was launched earlier this semester, which aims to provide free tampons in major buildings across campus.
A tampon dispenser that was placed in the Park Library has gone missing, SGA posted on social media Nov. 21. Because the initiative is meant to be a trial run, the dispenser will not be replaced, Rose said.
The final SGA general meeting of the year will take place on Dec.3, and will consist only of an "SGA Showcase," where SGA will discuss everything the organization has accomplished throughout the semester.
"The aim of the project was to collect data and prove to the university that they wouldn’t have to worry about students abusing the resource," she said.
Rose asked anyone with information regarding the dispenser to contact her at rose1ll@cmich.edu.
Caroline Murray announced the "Stamp Out Aggression" campaign has officially launched on social media. A number of posts have already been launched online, each one featuring the unique "Stamp Out Aggression" logo in the lower-right corner.
More information has not yet been released about the "Bystander Dialogue" event that is set to take place in January 2019. The event will be led by Rose and members of the Senate.
Emergency Senate elections will take place next semester on Jan. 14. There is one spot that remains empty at this time for representation of colleges, which is the representative of graduate studies left open by former senator Jonathan Korpi. At the moment, there are 14 Senate seats filled out of the 24.
SGA turnout at city commission
A number of SGA members, including President Jake Hendricks and Diversity Chair Gabrielle Mason, were not present at the Nov. 26 SGA meeting as they instead attended the Mount Pleasant city commission meeting.
The meeting attracted a large number of SGA representatives and CMU students in support of a proposed Citizens Advisory Board for the Mount Pleasant Police Department.
The proposal, which passed, came from a partnership between the Mount Pleasant Area Diversity Group and CMU Students for Black Lives Matter. It seeks the creation of a Citizens Advisory Board that would "strengthen the relationship between the Mount Pleasant Police Department and the community."
Mason offered a statement during the meeting, in which she urged the city commissioners to consider passing the proposal.
"I am asking for you to take the opportunity to be an ally for students of color and minorities in this community that experience discrimination in experiences with police," she said in her statement, which was read by Senator Brett Houle. "Police officers are supposed to make us feel safe and achieving this trust is exactly the point of this proposal."
The proposal passed at the meeting after what Mason described as "a battle."
Upcoming events
Senator Haili Trowbridge will host her "Art Exhibit" Senate project, which will take place from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28 in the Bovee University Center Rotunda. The event invites the students to support local artists. There will be 12 student artists featured at the exhibit who will be selling their artwork.
"Art can be so important to artists; it's their escape," Trowbridge said. "It's important for artists to see that they're appreciated."
The "Golden Gala," a free student body ball, will take place 8-11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Bovee University Center Rotunda.
The second annual "Student Body Town Hall" will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium in Park Library. The forum will allow the student body to voice their opinions to members of SGA.
The "Skate with a SAPA" fundraiser will take place at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29 at the Isabella County Ice Arena. The event, which is funded by SGA and Program Board, will raise money to fund SAPA services. More information can be found on the event's Facebook page.
