Students spoke during the Student Senate meeting in support for the passing of Collin’s Law, an anti-hazing bill in Ohio, regarding a recent hazing death at Bowling Green State University.
Molly Davis, LGBTQ+ affairs commissioner, and Eli Hendrix, president of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity at Ohio University, spoke during the meeting in representation of Sorority and Fraternity Life at OU to urge senate to stand behind them as they start a campaign in support for the statehouse to pass Collin’s Law.
“We are asking today that the Governmental Affairs Commission and the rest of Student Senate stand behind us as we start a campaign,” Davis said.
The campaign consists of students writing to their state senators and legislators urging them to pass Collin’s law. A letter template was completed that students can fill in and send, Davis said.
Collin’s Law, which would increase the penalty for hazing to a felony charge and require preventive education and more transparency in all schools, was reintroduced into the Ohio Senate on Wednesday.
“In 2018, we had a death in our community, Collin Wiant. Since then his parents have made continuous efforts to put Collin’s law into place through their programming, ‘Love, Mom & Dad: Turning a Tragedy into Progress,’” Hendrix said.
Senate also passed a bill urging Ohio University to create an inclusive learning environment for students who are hard of hearing or deaf. Elaina Tartal, chief of staff and primary sponsor of the bill, spoke about how the bill would help these students without causing any disruption to other students in the class.
The bill calls for small changes in the classroom and online classroom setting that would help hard of hearing and deaf students.
“(Ohio University) should demonstrate their support for the hard of hearing and deaf student population by requiring all videos and films shown in classrooms have closed captioning on and the automatic transcription function used during Microsoft Teams meetings to ensure the university is providing an inclusive and accessible learning experience for all students no matter their ability,” the bill reads.
During student speakout, many students criticized the judicial panel’s decision to impeach Senate member Richard Danylo. Students spoke about how they thought the decision was unfair and that Danylo did not deserve to be impeached.
“I want to say how saddened I am by the behavior of the judicial panel throughout this impeachment trial,” Janie Peterson, interim president of Student Senate from April to September 2020, said.
The decision to impeach Danylo was announced during the previous meeting; however, Danylo had the option to appeal the decision.
OU’s Counseling and Psychological Services also gave a presentation during the meeting, giving an overview to members of senate about services CPS provides, who it serves and how to get in contact with CPS if a student is looking for resources for their self or others.
CPS spoke on many projects and groups it supports as well, including the Body Project, which is a program designed to increase body acceptance and lower the risk factors for developing an eating disorder.
International Affairs Commissioner Laura Ndoigo announced African Heroes’ Night will be Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
