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THE EMORY WHEEL
NEWS
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
SGA to Vote on Changes to Club Chartering Process Next Monday By Rupsha Basu Asst. News Editor The 47th Legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) have revised the chartering bylaw process, which the entire legislature will vote on at next Monday’s meeting. The chartering bylaw process determines whether the University will charter a student organization and grant access to funds. Last spring, the 46th Legislature of SGA attempted to standardize the process in light of concerns that it took too long for clubs to receive a charter from the University. They changed the bylaws to standardize requirements for all divisional councils. However, some members of the 47th Legislature recently reviewed the bylaws for a second time to make the process clearer after complaints from Emory’s divisional councils that they did not have enough say over whether a club under their jurisdiction could be chartered. Each of Emory’s undergraduate and graduation schools have a
divisional council that oversees its respective clubs and affairs. SGA President and College senior Raj Patel, SGA Attorney General and College junior Chris Weeden, SGA Vice President for Finance and College senior Calvin Lee, SGA Governance Committee Chair and Goizueta Business School graduate student David Kaplan and Assistant Director for the Office of Student Leadership and Services Natasha Hopkins worked on the revision proposal. Kaplan and Weeden presented the proposal to the legislature and explained why the process needed to be clarified. “[The old bill] was a great step in the right direction,” Kaplan said. “One of the pushbacks [last year] was that there was no concern given to how divisional councils would feel about different clubs.” According to the proposal, the goals for the restructuring are clarity, speed and transparency. In the bill passed last spring, a club must have at least 10 members, a faculty advisor, a constitution and a mission statement to be char-
tered. Additionally, the clubs needed will make the final decision based approval of its representative divi- on SGA and divisional requirements. sional council based on its respective If the division approves the club, the requirements. division classifies the club in one of The new process retains the SGA two account types: a self-generated and University-wide requirements, account or an allocated account. but adds the timeA self-generated frame by which the account classificadivisional councils has room res“One of the push backs tion approve clubs. ervation rights, the After a club has [last year] was that there ability to rent equipmet the initial SGA was no concern given to ment and access to a requirements, the how divisional councils self-generated fund. requestor will fill However, it does not would feel about out an online form have access to supthat is sent to SGA plemental funding different clubs.” Attorney General, from the divisional who then forwards — David Kaplan, council or SGA. it to the appropriThis classificafull-time MBA student, SGA ate divisional countion costs clubs Governance Committee chair cil. The divisional $25. Once members council has 14 days pay the SGA busito make a decision. ness manager, they receive access to If the divisional council does not rooms. make a decision in two weeks, the An allocated account classificarequestor can contact the SGA attor- tion allows a club to request suppleney general, who will give the divi- mental funding from a divisional sion an extra three days to make the council or SGA. Divisional councils decision. If the division still has not may also provide initial funding at made a decision, the attorney general their discretion.
If a divisional council denies a charter, the club may appeal the decision. An appeal is sent to the SGA attorney general, who meets with the SGA Governance Committee. The committee decides to approve or reject the decision based on a two-thirds majority. If the governance committee denies the charter, it can be appealed again to the SGA legislature, which will hold a final vote also based on a two-thirds majority. For cross-divisional clubs comprised of only graduate students, the Graduate Student Government Association (GSGA) will review the charter based on its own standards. For cross-divisional clubs comprised of only undergraduate students, College Council (CC) will review the charter based on its standards. If a cross-divisional council is comprised of both undergraduate and graduate students, the club will be split under GSGA and CC. The divisional councils will oversee the yearly re-registration process. According to the proposal, this is
because it will “[allow the] division and SGA to stay on the same page in dealing with which groups have charters and funding.” Additionally, it will allow re-registration to coincide with when the division starts its year and ease the record-keeping process, according to Weeden. SGA Student Life Committee Chair and College senior Shaunesse Jacobs said that she liked the new version of the chartering process but was concerned that divisional councils would not approve charters on time. SGA Senior Representative and B-School senior Markbradley Kitay said that he was concerned that there would be no way to ensure a club had 10 members. Weeden responded that Emory’s online club forum, Community, will maintain a roster of club members. The legislature will vote on this bill at next week’s meeting. If it is approved, the changes will be effective Oct. 15.
— Contact Rupsha Basu at rupsha.basu@emory.edu
Protest Lasts Three Hours Outside Rollins Continued from Page 1 Protestors expressed their disappointment that Fox was not present at the luncheon ceremony, at one point chanting, “We came out, and he should too.” Fox wrote in an email to the Wheel that he was unable to attend the ceremony because he was in Bulgaria commemorating the reestablishment of a Methodist Church that was closed and destroyed under Communist rule. The morning began with Flowers and other Sacred Worth executive board members going over ground rules for the protest, such as leaving doorways unobstructed and staying off the street. “Thanks to all of you that came out today,” Flowers told the crowd. “We are here to protest, but we will be respectful.” Flowers and Boyd then asked the crowd for a show of hands as to which Emory academic divisions were represented at the protest. Protesters from the College, School of Law, School of Medicine, School of Public Health and Candler were all present, as were Candler alumni. Following a brief prayer, the group gathered on the steps of the Rita Anne Rollins building, where the Distinguished Alumni Award luncheon was taking place. They started chanting and waving their signs. The protestors then moved to the window where the awards ceremony was taking place and began singing and chanting louder as part of what Boyd called “a responsibility to raise our voices to be heard.” While speaking at the awards luncheon, Love acknowledged the protest outside, inviting the luncheon guests to read her “Message to the Candler Community” to get a better grasp of the controversy. Love then invited all the guests at the luncheon to speak with the protestors outside following the ceremony in order to learn more about their concerns. “We are all one community of those who love Candler and need to listen carefully to each other,” Love said in her opening remarks. The protest ended with members giving testimonials regarding their experiences with the church and Candler, as well as pizza purchased by the Office of LGBT Life. Sacred Worth’s Chaplain and second-year Master of Divinity student Zebulun Treloar said he has high hopes for the outcome of rally. “I hope that the rally ensures that in the future the administration, and the alumni board will never again give another award to someone who is a vocal opponent to the full inclusion and equality of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities,” Treloar said. Love said she was pleased with the turnout of both events, especially the protest. “They are a legitimate and hopefilled sign of free speech on a university campus,” Love said. “We have lots of issues on which members of the community disagree, which in turn gives us remarkable opportunities for reaching across deeply held differences to create and enhance our community.” For Boyd and Sacred Worth, the rally did not end with cheerful hugs and warm goodbyes. “This is just the beginning,” Boyd said. “This has become a symbolic act of a campaign that has caught fire.”
— Contact Stephen Fowler at smfowle@emory.edu