Student Governing Association senate unanimously passed a resolution aimed at protecting the existence of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
In a prepared debate, Jonathan Cole, student senator and senior in mechanical engineering, said as “student advocates” SGA should take a stance on issues like SNAP (informally known as food stamps) because it is important to be the voice for students that are struggling.
The resolution, which stems from a recent Farm Bill that would “limit the scope” of the food stamps program, essentially calls officials like Sen. Jerry Moran and Rep. Roger Marshall to protect SNAP because it fed an estimated 234,000 Kansans in FY2017.
Sean Marshall, organization and ARH outreach director for SGA and sophomore in political science, said he agreed with the points made in Cole’s debate.
“People who eat food do better in school,” Marshall said. “Our role as SGA is to ensure that our students not only can perform in class, but make sure that they can perform to the best of their ability to keep our retention rates high.”
Marshall said protecting students from food insecurity also cements Kansas State’s status as one of the happiest campuses in the nation.
SGA also legislated recognition of independent positions in the bylaws of the organization. Officially, the previously named Student Senate Intern Coordinators are now the SGA Intern Coordinators. Additionally, SGA now recognizes the independent position of the SGA Communications Director, who will be responsible for managing “consistent messaging tactics.”
SGA student senate will reconvene at 7 p.m. on Sept. 20 in the Wildcat Chamber.
