By Kaitlin Carman
News Editor
SGA approved changes to its constitution and addressed what they deemed to be inappropriate behavior at Drag Bingo during their April 9 meeting.
Vice President Raffi Elkhoury said, “I was deeply upset by the incident that I've heard occurred as the FSAB Drag Show - unacceptable and inappropriate behavior occurred and we do not stand for it.”
FSAB President Ben Hurney said, “I want to express sympathy to anyone who was uncomfortable and to clarify as well that going forward, we are not working with that vendor.”
The drag queens were told to “keep it PG and unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” said Hurney.
In the future, there will be clear communication and a “level of respect” for the students they are performing for, he said.
Hurney reminded students of resources they can seek in response to the event, including SHAPE, the Counseling Center, off-campus counseling, the Community Standards Office, the Dean of Students, and the 24/7 service line that is partnered with the University, called Advocates - Psychiatric Emergency Services.
Hurney asked that any comments or complaints regarding the event be emailed to FSAB@framingham.edu or the Student Experience and Career Development Office.
The group then turned to address constitutional changes. Elkhoury said the first is that “all active student organizations, excluding the Student Government Association, designate representatives to serve on SGA.”
Second, club representatives will not be voting members, according to Elkhoury.
He said, “It makes sense to put them on the executive branch since the legislative branch consists of the senate and also the voting members of the eBoard.”
Both changes were passed unanimously.
The third addition dictates the way in which these club representatives will be appointed. Elkhoury said they are exempt from SGA election and regulation processes as their appointment is up to each club’s discretion.
The motion passed unanimously.
Club representatives will also be required to attend SGA meetings. Elkhoury said, “SGA as a whole will be meeting biweekly - every other week - but every other meeting will alternate between being a club representative meeting and regular [meeting].”
It is now the SGA president’s responsibility to provide club representatives with the meeting schedule and inform them of the rules and regulations pertaining to their new roles, according to Elkhoury. The motion passed unanimously.
The final constitution change concerned the removal of class officer positions. Elkhoury said there were no class officers last year, and they have not “done anything” since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion passed unanimously.
“I do want to point out, it might be interesting as we pursue the idea of having senators for specific roles to maybe have like a senator in each class. But that's not anything set in stone,” added Elkhoury.
SGA President Evelyn Campbell said historically, Candidates’ Night has taken place two to four days before election day, giving candidates only a few days to run their campaigns.
Campbell said the changes to the bylaws will “allow candidates, as soon as their campaign is released via email by [the] EXP office and/or their advisor or election chair - whoever emails them - that they can start their campaign, as long as they are following campaign regulations.
“It was a proposed change for time so that candidates have more time to allow [the] student body to know who was running and why,” she added.
The motion passed unanimously.
During the SGA open forum, Senator Cesar Matos addressed limitations to Sandella’s rewards program.
He said, “When it comes to the stamp cards that they have over Sandella’s, they only exist for burritos, but I don't see any reason why that can't be expanded to some of the other items that they have on their menu.”
Matos said he intends on communicating this concern to Sodexo to see if they can increase the number of stamp-earning items.
Senator Raena Doty said the General Education Advisory Board is conducting a survey that, as of Tuesday, will be live for two weeks.
They want “student opinion on the implications of different models that the Advisory Board has been putting together over the last few months. And basically, what those different models will mean and how that will affect student life,” said Doty.
Doty reminded attendees that these changes will not impact currently enrolled students.
Student Trustee Ryan Mikelis discussed the March 27 Board of Trustees meeting.
He said the trustees were “very impressed by us [SGA] as a whole” in regard to their accomplishments on campus this semester.
Mikelis said the trustees are aware that spots are filled for eBoard and that “Jeremy [McDonald will be] stepping into the role of Student Trustee - or at least is expected to” as Mikelis is graduating at the end of the semester.
[Editor’s Note: Ben Hurney is an Illustrations Editor and Raena Doty is an Arts & Features Editor for The Gatepost.]