Ohio University announced that the university is suspending its plans to combine the Multicultural Center and LGBT Center during Student Senate’s Wednesday meeting.
Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Gigi Secuban said OU always has the best interests of its student body at heart and that the school has received feedback from many community members against the move.
“It’s been really disheartening to hear some of the comments around that,” Secuban said.
The university is looking to find a temporary office for the LGBT Center. Plans for finding a permanent space for the office will move forward in the Fall Semester. Secuban said she looks forward to working with all students to find the new space.
Senators voted on multiple resolutions. A resolution will make the Bobcat Readership Program an official Student Senate initiative was voted on and passed.
Under the program, OU sets aside money for subscriptions to newspapers, and students can take the newspapers for free. By institutionalizing the program, Student Senate would become the sole proprietor of the Bobcat Readership Program and would have greater control over how the funds are allocated.
“I think it’s important to understand where the money’s coming from,” Senator Maxeen Ramlo said.
A resolution to add a mediation director position into senate’s rules and procedures did not pass.
The mediator would have been a position to mitigate senate problems before they occur. Senators could have discussed issues with the mediator before taking it to someone higher in the senate’s hierarchy. Multiple senators voiced their concerns over who would fill this position and how the mediator would be chosen. Where and how the mediator would fulfill their office hours was also a concern.
Commissioner Clancy Thomas did not like the possibility of the mediator fulfilling office hours in senate’s office.
“I think it’s impossible to remain unbiased if you’re spending so much time in there,” Thomas said.
Senators also passed a resolution to purchase supplies for an Earth Day event and to allocate money towards Better Bystander’s A Mile Together event.
The event currently does not operate on a budget. Senate’s allocations would give about $650 to Better Bystanders to plan and pay for the program.
“A Mile Together..what they do and strive to accomplish looks very similar to what student senate looks to accomplish,” Student Senate Vice President Hannah Burke said.
Senators also passed 19 resolutions that appointed new commissioners, judicial panel representatives and a chief of staff.
As the last meeting of the year, the new executive board was sworn in. The new Student Senate President Lydia Ramlo then swore in those who were appointed to positions through resolutions.
Before the new executive board was sworn in, current Student Senate President Maddie Sloat gave her last President’s Report. Sloat thanked the Senate for their dedication and for upholding the values of diversity, inclusion and sustainability in their work.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve this year,” Sloat said. “I will cherish this opportunity for the rest of my life.”
