The Student Association Senate passed a bill Monday that formally requests the Board of Trustees change the SA’s name to Student Government Association.
Senators voted 25-1-3 to pass the Student Association Rebranding Act, which will send a formal request to the Board to call on them to change the organization’s name after SA President Arielle Geismar urged trustees to change the moniker at a meeting earlier this month. One of the bill’s sponsors, SA Sen. Ethan Fitzgerald (CCAS-U), said he consulted multiple student organizations like GW Rage, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention GW, Jewish student groups and other “other stakeholders” who supported the name change initiative.
“This is something that the students want and something I hope we can all vote for today,” Fitzgerald said.
SA Sen. Emmy Ly (GWSB-U) said she was unaware of the initiative to change the name until after Geismar had requested the Board to change its name. Ly said while moving forward on matters this sensitive and wide-reaching, the SA should consult those who are most affected and, in this case, survivors of sexual assault.
“I, myself, am a survivor and felt rather surprised by this initiative and blindsided, and I didn’t hear about it until it was out to The Hatchet,” Ly said.
Senators also unanimously passed a bill that requests students receive accommodations from the University to increase the accessibility of voting on Election Day by recommending faculty excuse absences and not take attendance on Election Day. The bill’s sponsor, SA Sen. Dan Saleem, said he and Vice President Demetrius Apostolis spoke to Vice Provost for Student Affairs Colette Coleman, and he took away from the meeting that it was an “amendable change.”
“The inherent purpose of this bill is to request that the administration encourage instructors and provide students with academic accommodations, such as recording lectures and holding off on grading work and assessments on election day,” Saleem said.
Geismar said she spoke to the Academic Affairs Division of the Board of Trustees in September, but they said if GW were not to hold classes on Election Day, it would “potentially” mean not having another day off throughout the year.
Saleem said the bill does not necessarily ask for the day off but encourages professors to hold classes on Zoom and not assign work that is due on election day.
Representatives from the GW College Democrats, BridgeGW and Swing Left GWU urged senators to pass the bill during public comment, citing that the bill will help increase voter turnout.
SA senators unanimously voted to approve SA Sen. Biyang Soh (CCAS-U) as the chair of the Physical Facilities and Urban Affairs Committee after former SA Sen. Andrew An resigned last week. Soh — who previously served as the vice chair of the committee — said as chair, he plans to improve “communication difficulties” from within the committee and collaborate with committee members and students about their ideas.
“I will always ensure that the best efforts and best intentions behind what people may want to do will be delivered to students as close to perfection as we can get,” Soh said.
Senators also voted to confirm Ishan Lal as executive director of facilities in the SA’s executive cabinet.
During his officer report, Apostolis said he is working on changing the general allocations process to an event-based funding system that will serve all GW students and student organizations.
Nathan Nguyen, the director of the Legislative Budget Office, said student organizations’ applications for spring semester general allocations close Friday at 5 p.m. He said the office will not be accepting any late applications, and student organizations will hear back by Oct. 27.
The next Senate meeting will be held Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. in the University Student Center Grand Ballroom.
