UNDERSTANDING STUDENT SENATE

MESSIAH'S LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

WRITTEN BY NATE CASTELLITTO DESIGNED BY AMBER SWAISGOOD

Each semester, a group of student leaders congregate to engage in discourse on the student body’s self-governance and programming. University policies, campus structures, and club budgets are all topics which they consider.

This group, Student Senate, consists of officers from each of Messiah’s fifty-plus chartered and executive clubs, special interest groups, and the Student Government Association’s (SGA) at-large senators and executive cabinet. Unless they’re a representative, however, students might have never heard of Senate, or they’re unaware of its function.

Mireliz Bermudez, Student Body Vice President, has a simple explanation.

“When explaining Senate to somebody, it seems overly complicated, and people have this perception that you need to be formal and there’s a certain language you need to use. It’s really a space for anybody who has concerns about the campus to come and speak,” Bermudez said.

Senate, led by Bermudez, is considered the legislative branch of SGA. Through majority-rule decisions, it has the power to amend SGA governance and recommend institutional changes. While students do not have jurisdiction over those institutional changes, they can pass resolutions based on the student body’s concerns.

“[Senate] has the official vote on proposals, ideas or concepts that are brought to the administration,” Bermudez explained.

Along with Bermudez and the rest of her cabinet, Pauline Deutcheu Tchouako, Student Body President, works to foster a healthy channel of communication between institutional administration and student organizations, who represent the student body.

“Senate is the most official vessel of [student] concerns. Those should be coming in…and passed on to me as President to then go to the administration and say, ‘Here's paragraphs of what students want to see you do,’” Deutcheu Tchouako explained.

To this end, issues which Senate recently tackled include religious tolerance, sustainable operation, and student employee wages. Insights from these conversations, a number of which came through formal resolutions, have made their way into the university’s institutional committees, which in turn advise the administration. Organization leaders were eager to engage in meaningful discourse and bring various student perspectives to the table.

“[This is] why it’s important for our clubs to continue and that they're sustainable for…the institutional side of healthy and cohesive learning and engagement,” Gabrielle Mitchell, Student Body Vice President of Organizations, said. “We have a varied group of people and body of students that we're trying to represent.”

Meanwhile, areas where Senate has immediate prerogative are the extracurricular programming and events which make up student life. As liaison to those clubs, Mitchell, a freshman, gets to work closely with student organizations as they chart and pursue unique, individual goals. With the needs of the student body in mind, they then divide the student activity fund equitably amongst themselves at one of the first Senate meetings each semester.

“The student body is the main [interest] that we are concerned about because they are the ones who will be impacted and growing from programming and events,” Mitchell commented.

Unlike institutional agenda items, of which students are discouraged by a lack of influence, the fruits of their self-governance and planning can be seen each semester. Mitchell’s Finance and Organizations Committee keeps up with club operations to ensure they are serving their communities to the best of their abilities. After a night of constructive dialogue, some longer than others, representatives are always eager to share their upcoming events with one another at the end of each Senate meeting.

“What I’m always interested in coming into a new year is whether the particular batch of student leaders is going to be more concerned with community or outcomes,” said JP Edmunds, Assistant Director of Student Engagement and SGA advisor.

“It’s not common that you get a group that pursues both…The one thing I think [clubs and organizations] have achieved is that they’ve built a meaningful community during their time here.”

In addition to attending Student Senate, which is open to everyone, students are invited to become an at-large Senator. Senators sit on SGA committees defined by categories of student concerns, who then draft policies and governance amendments on those students’ behalf. Just like organization officers, Senators have voting power, too.

Senate meetings are held Monday nights in the Admissions Center. A semesterly calendar and Senator applications can be found on SGA’s university webpage.