SGA Senate held a meeting discussing multiple bills that will bring change to the University of Tennessee’s campus on Tuesday evening.
Betsy Smith, director of Student Conduct and Community Standards, began the meeting by presenting SGA with information regarding data of students on campus who are transported to the hospital and treated for drug or alcohol overdoses. With many of these incidents occurring in the Fort and on campus, Smith suggested that SGA work towards making students feel more comfortable with reporting overdoses to authorities so students can access the treatment they require.
The floor was then opened for town hall, with the opening discussion focusing on the Safe Zone Training Bill SEN-16-18, which would require that the members Undergraduate Student Senate and the executive branch of the Student Government Association, UT administrators and University Residential Assistants must complete Safe Zone training. Safe Zone training would consist of education on topics like LGBTQ+ discrimination in coordination with the UTK pride center.
Jack Huddleston, junior in finance with a concentration in leadership, spoke out in opposition of the bill.
Dalton Teel, senior in agricultural leadership, education and communication, argued Huddleston’s sentiments.
“If your representatives elected you to support them as people, that means your LGBTQ+ representatives are people. They deserve a place to exist and feel comfortable and not feel like they are minimized into an identity or into some person that is subhuman; that is what the purpose of this bill is,” Teel argued.
“Can you imagine waking up every single day and feeling like you aren’t able to exist on our campus? What an unsettling feeling… we have folks of color, folks with disabilities, folks in the queer community, people all over who feel like they don’t have a place on this campus. That is who we are here to represent: them and you, everyone on this campus.”
Muslim Student Association members Irfan Ibrahim, junior in nuclear enigneering, and Muhammad “Yahyaa” Jahangir, freshman in supply chain management, expressed their support of the the bill requesting an Interfaith Space, where anyone of any religion may come to pray, at UT, SEN-18-18.
The bill was passed later during the meeting by Senate unanimously with forty-three votes in favor and none in opposition.
Ovi Kabir, SGA president and senior in political science, also discussed the controversy over SPAC, with its recent pause and then continuation. As a result, organizations that usually receive SPAC funding, such as the Campus Events Board (CEB) and Women’s Coordinating Council (WCC) will be getting full funding for the spring semester.
Along with the discussion over bills, Gabrielle Harman, senior in marketing, gave a short statement regarding events that took place at the Rock. Harman, including a vigil that was held for the Pittsburg shooting at the rock and swastikas being painted over the “Stronger than Hate” message.
Harman argued that it would benefit the campus to provide the Rock with a spotlight to encourage safety and security, as well as a way to display the Rock during nighttime and make access to painting at night easier.
Additional bills passed during the meeting included Act to Create an Intercollegiate Affairs Committee SEN-17-18; Additional Call for UT Administrative Action in Support of the UT FUTURE Program Receiving Services from Student Disability Services, SEN-14-18; the Bill to Increase Electoral Integrity, SEN-18-18; the Bill Supporting the Creation of an Honors College at the University of Tennessee, SEN-15-18; the Bill to Increase Expediency of Executive Decisions, SEN-10-18; the Bill Permitting the Presentation of First-Year Council Legislation in Senate, SEN-13-18 and the Bill to Decrease Previous Notice, SEN-5-18.
SGA Senate bills can be found on the SGA website.
Betsy Smith discusses the date involving amnesty and the use of alcohol and drugs on campus.
