The Student Government Association (SGA) inaugurated the new Freshman Class Council and set the agenda for its annual dinner with President Ronald J. Daniels at its weekly meeting in Charles Commons on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The SGA also passed the Relay For Life Kickoff Bill and the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) Funding Bill.
The results of the Freshman Class Council Election for the 2016-2017 school year were announced on Oct. 7. Freshman Class President Anthony Boutros and Class Senators Dean Chien, Rushabh Doshi, Maya Foster, Edo Ighodaro, Meghna Kumar and Alex Walinskas were sworn into their positions and introduced to the structure of meetings and legislative procedures.
The representatives of the Class of 2020 hope to focus on matters of accessibility and acceptance on campus. Freshman Class President Boutros stressed, in particular, the importance of campus health service for students with disabilities.
“Students with disabilities lack a centralized common room where we can meet, socialize and plan to raise awareness. Peer support groups are extremely helpful and the fact that they can’t exist because there is no centralized and constant meeting place hampers our ability to seek a crucial type of treatment and support from peers,” Boutros said.
The Freshman Class Council also wants to establish a transportation system that will include shuttle rides to the Health and Wellness Center, CVS, the Rec Center and various other destinations. Freshman Senators Doshi and Chien also want to prioritize health related measures.
“My personal top legislative priority for the upcoming 2016-2017 year is to classify a tampon as a basic need or a necessity, which would allow the student government to place tampons in restrooms all over campus,” Doshi said. “I will also be advocating for adding ‘drop-in’ hours at the Health and Wellness Center.”
Chien echoed these sentiments, drawing on public health-related issues across campus.
“I want to make basic public health-related measures like reducing Freshmen Plague and banning smoking a priority,” Chien said.
The freshman SGA members also want to address the prevalent issues of diversity and inclusion.
“I want to fight on behalf of other groups who are not granted the respect and rights they deserve on campus,” Boutros said. “By the end, I hope that I’ll be able to foster a more inclusive community that is aware and empathetic of the intersectional issues faced by their peers.”
Freshman Senator Foster specifically wants to facilitate more cultural events.
“I am especially interested in addressing diversity, possibly hosting cultural events where people can come in and participate in activities designated for a specific culture,” she said.
The Freshman Council’s other goals include retaining covered grades for the next freshman class, connecting students with resources that will help them adapt to college life and establishing class-wide student learning opportunities.
“We want to ensure that everyone has a say, so we will seek feedback and advice from the class. We want everyone to feel involved and excited,” Freshman Senator Walinskas said.
The SGA will have its annual dinner with President Daniels on Nov. 2. Main topics of discussion will include student life, mental health and University diversity and inclusion.
In regards to student life, the SGA hopes to receive updates on the student union that the University made plans in Feb. 2014 to build. They also hope to discuss student representation on the University’s Board of Trustees Students Life Committee, a business incubator space for undergraduates, and an increase in funding for Student Life.
Another recurring topic at the meeting was that of student group funding. With a number of new student organizations emerging on campus each year and a fixed amount of funds, the SGA is working on ways to efficiently select student groups and distribute these funds. For instance, the SGA is working on implementing an online funding request portal on their website.
Executive Treasurer John Tycher spoke on a policy change made by the Student Activities Commission (SAC).
“We unanimously voted in a quorum to establish a new policy that will make sure that groups will disclose all additional JHU sources of funding in order to qualify for funding. This will be reflected in the next round of funding,” Tycher said.
All SAC nominations for the 2016-2017 school year were approved during the meeting.
Specifically, the SGA passed two bills allocating funds to Relay For Life and the Foreign Affairs Symposium during the meeting.
Mental health will also be a major point of discussion at the SGA dinner with President Daniels. The SGA hopes to have the Counseling Center collaborate with professors to publicize the Center’s functions.
Junior Class Senator Sathvik Namburar believes that awareness of mental health is crucial and that the SGA should work to expand and better utilize the Counseling Center. He also proposed having more people available on the emergency hotline.
Regarding diversity and inclusion, the SGA wants to speak to President Daniels about updating the University’s Student Conduct Code by establishing bias infractions.
The SGA’s major goals of the year — diversity, mental health and school spirit — will be discussed in detail at the SGA Fall Forum on Nov. 1.
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