Last week’s Student Senate meeting started at 6:03 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, in the Dakota Ballroom in Davies Student Center.
The meeting began with a presentation from Cole Morehouse, director of the Communications Commission, and Ally Etzler, director of the Intergovernmental Affairs Commission.
They presented new goals for the Student Senate Fall 2025 Open Forum. Some of these new goals included getting rid of open-ended questions, as it typically made the forum more unapproachable for students to respond to.
Morehouse also said they are planning to make it into more of a “satisfaction survey” format, and all statements will require an answer.
Etzler said that last years’ senate open forum received responses from a total of 107 students. Their goal this year is to get 250 responses.
After the presentation, reports were made by President Kaitlyn Hevrin and Vice President Zach Cardille. This opened the floor for any other reports to be made by the directors of commissions.
Chanel Berg, director of the University Activities Commission (UAC), highlighted some events for the upcoming week.
This week, Blu’s Bingo theme is “Pride,” with lots of rainbow and pride-themed prizes. This event will begin at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in The Cabin at Davies Center.
There will be two different concerts in The Cabin at Davies Center this week. Bear Creek Band will be performing from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10. Ella Robbers will be performing from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11.
They started with old business after announcements. This included reviewing 69-B-1 and reintroducing 69-B-2.
69-B-1 was introduced last week and focuses on creating a housing committee. Etzler pointed out a few key details from when it was first introduced, like how it is not a replacement for RHA and is just meant to delegate texts.
There was a vote on the amendment of the bill as they were connecting amendments A and B. The vote resulted in 30-0-3, so the amendment was passed within the bill.
A vote was held on the bill itself, which resulted in 32-0-2, so the bill was passed.
69-B-2 was offered a reintroduction, but they postponed it until next Monday, Oct. 13 at the next senate meeting. They voted on this postponement, and it resulted in 32-0-2, so they will officially revisit the bill next week.
They moved on to new business, which included three new resolutions that were introduced and voted on.
The first resolution was 69-R-4, which was in support of the Equity in Student Matters (ESM) 2025-2026 legislative priority summary. Before voting, the floor was opened for questions.
Brandon Lee, an on-campus senator, asked what their thought process was while creating the bill and what they were hoping to achieve.
ESM Senate Director Amber Keller said ESM would like to “highlight people from marginalized communities” and “amplify their voices.”
Marissa Mapes, an off-campus senator, asked if students are allowed to attend the events outlined in the meeting and if they were allowed to voice their opinions.
ESM Student Director Piper Campbell said, “The idea for the bigger panels is to get students educated on current issues,” and the commission wants to, “allow students to come in, ask questions and get answers in a safe environment without judgment.”
Senate voted on 69-R-4, which resulted in a vote of 29-0-2, so the resolution was passed.
Senate moved on to 69-R-5, which is in support of the Student Health and Wellness fall 2025 legislative priority summary.
This resolution was voted on and resulted in a vote of 31-0-2, so it was passed.
The last resolution discussed was 69-R-6 in support of the Intergovernmental Affairs Commission fall 2025 legislative summary.
Senate voted with a result of 31-0-2, so the resolution passed.
After exhausting new business, senate went over a couple committee appointments. Final announcements were made afterwards.
The senate adjourned at 7:58 p.m. and will reconvene next at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13 in the Dakota Ballroom.
Trnka can be reached at [email protected].
