Student Government held its first meeting of the semester Sept. 1, focusing on a series of summer reports, the selection of a new chair for the legislative affairs committee and a welcome from the new Interim Vice President of Student Affairs.
The meeting began with a brief presentation from Amanda Smith — the new Interim Vice President of Student Affairs and longtime Dean of Students — in which she spoke about the importance of student leadership in her administration and her goal of improving the relationship between university administration and SG.
“I wanna say a word about our relationship because I’m gonna be very honest and transparent with you,” Smith said. “The last few years have felt a little like there’s been some tension, and I don’t like it. I know [associate dean] Kim [Winkler] doesn’t like it, and I know a lot of the students didn’t like it.”
Smith took over the Division of Student Affairs earlier this semester after the Aug. 17 resignation of controversial former Vice President Edmund “Gene” Fitch. Smith said she wants to chart a new path forward with SG and the student body, and part of her plan includes meeting with SG President David Baker and Vice President Farhan Iqbal “every other week.”
“So what I am saying as your Interim Vice President and Dean of Students is that I want to set a goal this year to make our relationship as great as it can possibly be,” Smith said. “It’s really important for us to be able to come to the table and talk and have transparency with each other and also with having the understanding that we’re not always gonna see eye to eye and we’re not always gonna agree on things, but I think the important part is that we keep coming together and we keep talking and we keep making our relationship a priority, and that’s what’s important to me.”
President Baker announced the start of the fall elections campaign season, which began Sept. 1. Baker said that as of now roughly 30 people are running to fill vacant seats with each race having enough candidates to be competitive — with the exception of graduate student seats. Baker said that students interested in running this fall can apply until Sept. 7. Baker said SG is planning a speed campaigning event to meet senatorial candidates Sept. 9 in the Chess Plaza. Electronic voting officially begins Sept. 14 and closes Sept. 16.
After reminding senators about the SG changes approved last semester which are now in effect — including a budget increase for SG and a new treasurer position, currently held by supply chain management sophomore Sebastian Perez — Baker said that in a meeting with administrators from the library, SG was informed the library planned on reducing its hours in the coming months. The Retrograde reached out to the dean of the library who did not immediately respond for comment.
The last hour of the meeting was spent electing the next Legislative Affairs Committee Chair. A majority of the Senate voted to elected political science sophomore Anointing Okereke as the next chair. Okereke accepted their new position.
Discussion on Senate Resolution 2026-09 “In Support of Re-recognizing The Mercury as an Official Student Newspaper,” written by Green Initiative Chair Colton Rupe, began with a five-minute public session before SG moved into a closed session — which is a type of meeting in which all guests are asked to leave the Galaxy Rooms.
As the meeting progressed, senators slowly left the meeting. By 7:30 p.m., while Rupe’s resolution was still being discussed, too many senators had left, leading to the legislative body losing quorum — the minimum number of attendees for votes to be possible.
The meeting was adjourned shortly after quorum was lost. The recognition resolution and a pride wall resolution have both been tabled until the next SG meeting. Baker said that an allocation to fund supplies for SG’s national voter registration day event will likely be heard over a special session of SG to make sure supplies are bought in time for the event — which will be held Sept. 17.
SG meetings are open to the public. The next senate meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in the SU Galaxy Rooms.