SGA Briefing 9/24/20

Following the initial introductions, the Student Government Association’s meeting began with a motion by President Noah DeMichele for the SGA to join the ASGA (the American Student Government Association), this would allow more resources and such to be utilized by members of Frostburg’s Student Government. Voter registration was brought up, leading to the idea of tweeting to engage other organizations that may contain members who have yet to register to vote. Succeeding this was the expressed wish of bettering dining on campus.

Vice President Thayer updated us on her work with the Big Five on campus, organizations that carry more weight in decision making than others. The update was that an email was sent out containing information on how to join the group. Next on her agenda was to implement an SGA representative in Orientation classes to give students a better idea of what the SGA is and what they do.

Chair Thomas Forrest with the governance committee, in an effort to build off of the representation of SGA in orientation classes, suggested informational Kahoots and other activities like this to engage other members of the SGA and students alike. If there’s a policy that you have in mind, or are confused about anything regarding SGA – they have a project pipeline hanging in the SGA office in Lane. Emailing the Governance Committee is also an option.

After this, Chairs Nordquist and Blubaugh explained several initiatives to better the finger details on campus as well as put into the works a project known as  “Reclaim Resilience.” Among these ideas were making the Frostburg website more language accessible, a hydration campaign (with possible alerts to remind students to hydrate), finance workshops to teach organizations and students alike how to watch and spend their money as well as how to gather safely and effectively during the pandemic. Reclaim Resilience would have a number of themes including but not limited to self-care and sexual assault. Chair Mitchell expressed a similar vision of uniting the campus, with two unique ideas, the first being an International week to explain and celebrate different cultures found on each continent and the second being a “round-table talk” between FSU Students and the Frostburg community, both ideas which she hopes will promote “one big, happy family.”

Perhaps the most groundbreaking item on the agenda to take place this SGA meeting was a resolution titled 2-2020. This resolution, if passed, will lower the time served requirement from one year on the SGA executive board to one year on the student senate. The goal of this resolution is to expand who is eligible to run for president so that there is more diversity on the executive board of the SGA. There was some disagreement as to whether or not to pass this resolution, with one side explaining that diversity plays a crucial role in ensuring that the students of Frostburg State are well represented and the other explaining that gatekeeping is sometimes a necessity to ensure those in charge are qualified leaders. There will be more discussion on this topic at the next meeting.

The next resolution that is trying to be passed is 3-2020, which seeks to alter the manner in which chairs are appointed in the Student Government Association.

In other news, the Homecoming theme has been changed to “Pandemic Pandemonium”, an effort to bring light to the pandemic featuring mostly virtual events. In addition to this, the talent show and pep-rally will be combined into one event, an email will be sent out with more information on how to audition for the student showcase.  An outdoor theatre will be featured in the parking lot of UPC, showing The Joker at 8:30. On the 29th of this month, take and bakes (stuff a buddy and embroidery kits) will be given out. Lastly, there will be another game night hosted from 8-11 in Lane.