Senators and First Year Council members filled the Ferguson Forum Thursday night as the SGA Senate convened its first joint session with the council, an SGA-affiliated contingent of freshmen.
Formal business attire marked a voting week for the Senate, and cooperation seemed to characterize resolutions that filled the agenda. In many cases, the proposed bills and resolutions boasted co-authorships by both senators and council members.
Senator Ian Sams, who co-authored a resolution to bring a series of round table discussions between Alabama political figures and SGA participants with First Year Council President Pro Tempore David Wilson, spoke to the value of a joint meeting.
“We get to see the bright freshman minds that this campus offers come together and collaborate with those of us that have been in the Senate for a year,” Sams said.
Wilson, as well as his other First Year Council peers, agreed.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the Senate to hear the voice of the freshmen on campus,” Wilson said. “And, of course, it’s also a great opportunity for First Year Council members. For those who may have ambitions to go further, to go into the Senate, this is a wonderful way to learn and experience how things go down.”
In addition to Sams’ and Wilson’s resolution, senators moved through new joint resolution business and voted on proposals the same night, with an eight-minute recess for committee meetings separating proposals and voting.
During the time allotted for proposals, senators proposed a wide range of new initiatives. Standing prominently among them, a resolution establishing—not solely supporting—a “refined registry system for guests in residence halls.”
After an uncharacteristic amount of voiced questions, it became clear that the resolution called for the creation of incentives for students’ guests to register in a database. Once entered, guests would have an identification card, which they could then carry to prevent the strict consequences for guests “found alone in or around residence halls” without proper documentation.
Another resolution called for the creation of Outreach Awareness Day, and was co-authored by Kelsey Kurth and Susan Speaker, two members of the First Year Council.
“Outreach Awareness Day is just both to encourage and inform the students of what all there is to participate around campus, and also to show them how much the University actually does give, which usually goes unreported or unnoticed,” Speaker said about the resolution.
Speaker and Kurth also co-authored a resolution encouraging students to participate in the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility’s SaveFirst program, which teaches students how to prepare tax returns for underprivileged families in the region.
In addition, senators offered condolences to the families of the victims of the UAH faculty shooting last week, as well as congratulations to this year’s Premier Awards winners.
In the shorter, second half of the meeting, senators and council members passed all proposed resolutions unanimously. After the meeting, Wilson reiterated the importance and generally accepted success of the first joint SGA meeting.
“It’s always good when there’s interaction between two legislative bodies on campus,” Wilson said. “It’s always good to hear each other’s ideas and views.”
