The first Student Senate meeting of the semester took place at 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 29 in the Woodland Theater of Davies Student Center. It was a vibrant event, filled with an abundance of new announcements. 

President Brett Farmer introduced a plan to rewrite the senate bylaws. Vice President Sam Consiglio and newly appointed Parliamentarian Luke Mandli will be leading this initiative.

The bylaws are the code of conduct the body must follow, similar to the U.S. Constitution. Previous sessions have had the ability to edit them, leading to some inconsistencies. 

Farmer said the bylaws often contradict themselves and there are grammatical and formatting issues throughout the document.

“[With] the current bylaws, some of the stuff is just so outdated to the point where it doesn’t make any sense,” Consiglio said. 

The 136-page document has been divided into three parts to be rewritten and the first part is set to be introduced Feb. 5. 

Farmer described plans for a new commission based in student health. This commission would be the 10th commission within the senate. Once approved it would combine the senate’s efforts with Student Health Service, Counseling Services and Services for Students with Disabilities. 

“We’re hoping that this group will kind of bridge the gap and be the go-to mechanism to advocate for student voices for any sort of wellness,” Farmer said.

Alongside the announcements from Farmer and Consiglio came reports from the executive board. 

The Activities, Involvement + Leadership office is hosting Blu’s Organizations Bash and Part-Job Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

The University Activities Committee is hosting a Superbowl viewing party on Sunday, Feb. 11 in the Hilltop Lounge. 

Mascot coordinator Dylan Kraatz said he plans on recruiting more Blu performers and interested students can apply on Blugold Connect+. 

Academic Affairs Commission Director Colin Rafter introduced several new projects for the semester. The commission will be working towards creating outlines for using of AI in classrooms, helping create a financial literacy class and developing a program to put cameras in university parking lots to improve security. 

Nelly Christelle, Sam Duff and Reagan Jimenez were sworn in as senators. They were appointed last semester, but were unable to be sworn in until this meeting. 

The senate adjourned at 6:47 p.m. The next meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 5 in the Dakota Ballroom in Davies.

Leick can be reached at [email protected].