Student Government Association senators unanimously passed a bill Monday to allow one student who is not in the SGA to serve on the University-Wide Programs Fund.
SGA Sen. Jonesy Strell (CCAS-U), who sponsored the UWPF Representation Act, said the bill will grant SGA Vice President Ethan Lynne the power to appoint a student to assist with UWPF’s “financial decisions” when allocating money for large scale University events. He said allowing students to provide input on student organization’s finances will make the UWPF’s allocations process “more inclusive” of the GW student body.
“This nonelected role is designed to introduce fresh perspectives to the finance process by bringing in someone with a unique outside point of view,” Strell said.
The UWPF — a joint fund between GW and the SGA for primarily large-scale University events and initiatives — is made up of three Office of Student Life staff members and three SGA senators. Strell said he worked with SGA Vice President Ethan Lynne to convert one of the SGA senator seats on the UWPF to a student representative seat.
Any student can apply for the representative position as long as they don’t currently hold the title of an executive officer on the executive board in a student organization on campus, Strell said.
SGA Sen. Connor J. Toth (LAW-G) made an amendment to the bill that will allow students who have previously served on the executive board of a student organization to serve as the voting student on the UWPF. Toth said he felt the previous clause, which barred these students from serving on the UWPF due to a perceived conflict of interest when it came to distributing funding for student organizations, was “overly constricting”.
“There’s no need to restrict so many people from serving on the UWPF especially when, often, executive board members are some of the most active and knowledgeable people on campus,” Toth said.
SGA senators confirmed second-year law student Rachel Edwards and Masters of Public Health student Kate Murphy for two vacancies on the student court. Murphy served in the Student Assembly’s Health and Safety department during her time as an undergraduate at College of William and Mary. Murphy said her experience with student hearings relate to the Code of Student Conduct, including cases of underage drinking and hazing. She said this experience will help her ensure accountability in student court cases at GW.
“I acknowledge that as a public health student rather than a law student, I might not have a legal background many of my fellow justices may have,” Murphy said. “However, I care deeply about this work and I intend to do everything in my power to ensure accountability and provide a voice to all students.”
The judicial branch of the SGA consists of one chief justice and three undergraduate associate justices. The body checks the power of the executive and legislative branches, according to the SGA’s website.
SGA senators also unanimously elected SGA Sen. Mehrshad Fahim Devin (SMHS-G) to the position of Graduate Student Life Committee Chairperson. Devin, a second-year medical student, said he is looking forward to implementing initiatives to support graduate students at GW by providing services like childcare.
“The graduate experience is very multi dimensional,” Devin said. “There’s so many facets, so much more that can be done at this institution.”
President Ethan Fitzgerald and Vice President Ethan Lynne gave their respective presidential and vice presidential reports, where they highlighted the SGA’s accomplishments over the summer, including extended dining hall hours, expanded operating hours for the Lerner Health and Wellness Center and an additional $21 in laundry credits for students. Fitzgerald also said he will be joining campus facility leaders in the coming weeks to walk through the campus and ensure all blue light stations — emergency call lines on campus that provide a direct connection to police — on campus are operable.
SGA senators will hold their next meeting on Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. in the University Student Center Grand Ballroom.
