Dear fellow K-Staters,
With summer just under three weeks away, I’m sure you are all focused on crossing that final hurdle. There is hardly ever a slow week at K-State and this one is no different.
First off, we would like to thank everyone who attended the workshop with the architects of the Union Renovation project yesterday. We were really impressed by some of the ideas you brought to the table and look forward to seeing them become reality during the construction. The feedback we gave on things like flooring material, fixtures, pictures in the building and color schemes play a big part in providing the K-State Student Union a Wildcat identity and making it unique to our campus and students.
Last week, Student Senate passed a resolution opposing S-175, a bill which would take away K-State’s jurisdiction to withhold resources and benefits from a student organization that discriminates membership in their organization based on “closely held religious beliefs.”
If passed, the bill will prevent K-State from denying resources to student organizations with openly discriminatory practices that hide behind the technicality of it being a religious belief.
Neither Student Senate nor our cabinet was comfortable with the precedence set by this bill. K-State strives to create an environment that is free from discrimination or bias in any form. It is part of the positive and supportive culture we have fostered and will continue to aim for on campus.
We do not support the state government being able to legislate away our university’s autonomy. We would like to encourage you to be vocal and join us in opposing this bill using #NOSB175 on your social media.
Lastly, you may have noticed a lot of cranes and fences being set up around campus the past few weeks. We’re finally getting to the phase where the plans have been finalized on various construction projects and work has begun on the new College of Business building, and will soon begin on the Union among others.
It’s an exciting time of progress and development at K-State, and we would hate to see it come at the cost of student safety. We would like to encourage you to be cautious around the construction zones and abide by the posted signage.
As always, we would love to hear from you and find new ways to enhance your experience at K-State. You can reach us by email at sga@ksu.edu or on Twitter @KStateSBP_SBVP. We hope you have a great week ahead and get a leg up on those finals.
Good luck and go ‘Cats,
Andy Hurtig, student body president
Joe Tinker, student body vice president
