The Kansas State Student Governing Association passed a resolution Thursday evening supporting a change to the university’s Principles of Community.
The Student Senate unanimously approved the resolution, which supports adding the phrase, “The KSU community stands united against all forms of discrimination” to the principles, which currently only state the university’s affirmation toward “the value of human diversity and inclusion for community.”
“One of the things when President Myers was named in November was that he wanted us to address the Principles of Community,” Zelia Wiley, interim associate provost of the Office of Diversity, said in an address to the senate. “The reason is that there’s issues — if you’ve read any of my K-State Todays — things that President Myers pointed out and are things we’re navigating through various climate issues at the university. Each time I’ve noted the Principles of Community, and people ask me, ‘What’s that?’”
Similar resolutions will be voted on at meetings for Graduate Student Council, the Graduate Council, Faculty Senate and the University Support Staff Senate.
The senate also voted to amend an SGA statute, which changed the amount of money required to be kept in reserve in the campus privilege fee bond surplus account.
“What the statutes previously said is we can spend 50 percent of the annual surplus that we pay on our bonds,” said Jonathan Peuchen, junior in mechanical engineering and privilege fee committee chair. “We’re required by the state to collect 125 percent of the value of our bonds for different buildings. The reason they require us to collect that is that our funding source (for) tuition can change a lot. There can be huge swings in enrollment, and that can affect how much we collect.”
“What this new amendment allows us to do, we are able to spend the account to 50 percent of the annual debt service for bonds, and that amount is now from the 100 percent of the 125 percent that we’re required to collect,” Peuchen continued. “Our annual debt service for bonds is the $2.2 million, so we’re required with this new change to keep about $1.1 million in the account.”Related:
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Peuchen said previous projects funded with fees from the bond surplus account include the installation of a turf field at Memorial Stadium and a partnership with K-State Athletics to build tennis courts at the Peters Recreation Complex.
In other business
The senate allocated $400 to the Pre-Veterinary Club for travel to a pre-veterinary symposium at North Carolina State University next month, $1,000 to the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences to attend a career fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and $1,450 to Alpha Gamma Rho to host a symposium at the Staley School of Leadership Studies on Feb. 24.
The senate introduced legislation that would recommend the K-State Association of Residence Halls to lift a rule which prohibits student government candidates from campaigning in the university’s residence halls.
“(Students in the residence halls) will get more involved with elections because they’ll hear more about it,” said Cat Gutman, sophomore in architecture and senator from the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. “Previously, they haven’t even really heard about what SGA does, so it’ll be a good opportunity for them to understand who they’re electing and how it’s going to affect them.”
SGA will vote on that recommendation at its general body meeting next Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Big 12 Room.
