Student senators unanimously passed a referendum Monday to reform the Davies Expansion Committee with a new purpose, Student Senate President Adrian Klenz said.

The committee plans to focus on future options for Davies Center, which could include repairs to the existing building, expansion or construction of a new center.

Although he wanted a new committee formed by summer, Klenz, a senior, said he now plans to form the committee at the start of the fall semester.

By studying the information compiled by the first two Davies expansion committees, Klenz said the new committee would seek more student input to make another proposal.

“We have to try and figure some of these things out,” he said.

Senate’s resolution added a new aspect to the Davies committee: a student chairperson. The previous committees had a faculty chair who reported to Vice Chancellor Andy Soll, but now the student chair will report to Senate, Klenz said.

The rest of the committee is comprised of five students and five faculty members who review information on Davies and make recommendations. Klenz said he would like more non-Senate students on the committee and that members of Campus Independents and Beta Upsilon Sigma have expressed interest in membership.

Junior Jeremy Gragert, a College Independent, said he talked with Klenz about membership on the new committee.

“I approached him because it was something I was concerned about,” he said.

Klenz campaigned for student body president at the College Independents’ meetings in March, Gragert said, and they talked about the new student center referendum. He said he agreed with Klenz’s view that it was a bad time for a new student center during the election.

Gragert voted against the center referendum because he said he thought tearing down Davies Center was a bad idea.

He heard about the building’s structural problems but said they aren’t apparent in his use of the building.

One problem Gragert said he had with the referendum was the lack of time students had to absorb information on the proposed center.

Now that a new committee will be created, Gragert said he wants to be involved to get the details of what is wrong with Davies. Then, he wants to inform the rest of the campus on its problems.

To acclimate senators and new committee members with Davies’ problems, Klenz said he plans to take them on the tour he took with the director of University Centers and Programs, Mitch Kilcrease.

“When I took that tour with Mitch,” Klenz said, “I was surprised on what I saw in Davies.”

After the senators get a look at the student center’s physical problems, Klenz said he plans to inform other campus groups.

For his role on the committee, Klenz said he will take a hands-off approach by going to a few meetings, but not impeding open discussion. Controversy in the last committee arose about the presence of then-Senate President Sarah Schuh, he said, and he wants to avoid any possible conflicts.

“The issue got too charged, emotionally,” Klenz said. “It got too complicated.”

Final approval and implementation of the Senate resolution depends on Soll, but Klenz said he’s confident the vice chancellor will approve Senate’s decision. During the summer, Klenz said he plans to work with Soll on Senate issues, including the Davies committee.

No matter what the future committee decides, Klenz said, it has to push its decision and give students information to support it. Klenz added: “There’s got to be a student face on it.”