SGA Senate Spotlight: March 23, 2022

A recap of last week’s Student Senate meeting, including a presentation from Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance.

Grace Reynolds | greynolds@butler.edu 

Last Wednesday, March 23rd, the Student Senate met for their weekly meeting. As always, the Student Senate session encompassed all of the current activity relating to SGA on Butler’s campus.

The first order of business was a presentation by the Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance (APIA). The organization currently has roughly thirty members and gathers seven times a semester for meetings and events, such as celebrating the Lunar New Year. Their objective is to spread awareness and educate the community about Asian culture, as well as unite those of Asian heritage to create a better community on Butler’s campus. APIA requested that SGA provide them with a $200 grant for a Sinophobia event that is being planned for the end of March. The money will go towards purchasing Asian food for an expected attendance of fifteen to twenty students. The resolution was passed.

Next, the Senate voted on whether or not to reinstate drinking fountains around Butler’s campus. The fountains were turned off at the start of the Covid pandemic for sanitary concerns; now that the campus-wide mask mandate has been lifted, the Senate agrees that it is time for Butler to turn them back on. This resolution was also passed.

The Senate then discussed the endorsement of  two new organizations on Butler’s campus: Bookish Bulldogs and Bulldogs for Universal Design (BUD). Bookish Bulldogs is a new student book club on campus and BUD advocates for equity and protecting the rights of students with disabilities by helping Butler become more accessible. The Senate agreed to endorse both organizations.

Finally, each senator committee gave their reports and senators were given the opportunity to make announcements regarding current events on campus. Some of the events mentioned included past events such as Beta Theta Pi’s philanthropy week and Spring Sports. There were some upcoming events mentioned as well such as the American Foundation of Suicide Walk, which will happen on April 3rd, and the Bulldog 5k Jog, set to take place on April 23rd.

This week, the Student Senate will reconvene again to approve last week’s minutes before going forward to address new student concerns, approve resolutions and endorse student organizations.

All Senate meetings are open to the student body to sit in and listen. All Student Senate resolutions can be found and commented on at butlersga.org. They take place at 7pm on Wednesdays in the Reilly Room of Atherton Union.