Student Government President Tyler Liberty opened the general body meeting last week reflecting on Gov. Chris Christie’s visit.
“Everyone was really polite and he was really, really impressed with the way you guys conducted yourselves and the amount of support we had showing up,” Liberty said. He also commented on how the turnout at the College was greater than what Christie had experienced when he visited Rutgers and Rowan Universities.
Toward the end of the meeting, new updates and possible changes to the athletic scene on campus were discussed. One of the changes is that indoor and outdoor club sports now have safety officers for home games and practices.
The fitness center in Campus Town will receive the equipment from the Packer Hall Physical Enhancement Center on campus. While some of the equipment has had a fair share of wear and tear, only suitable equipment will be moved from the current gym into the new one, said Hajar Lakhouili, bylaw review chair.
For major competitions, the College is looking into the “missed class policy” for student athletes who have to miss class because of major competitions.
“They want athletes to have something that says they are going to miss class. Then you — the professors — have to give them the opportunity to make up the work regardless of whether or not they missed class. But it’s only for major competitions,” Lakhouili said.
The possibility of granting early registration to athletic teams and ROTC to accommodate practicing schedules was also discussed.
“Imagine getting 100 football players’ schedules to match up so that they can have practice. That would be like 4 o’clock in the morning or like 6 o’clock in the morning, and that’s when they practice,” Lakhouili said.
Concerns on the Schedule Relief for Athletes proposal arose because it was not so clear where to draw the line on which organizations would receive early registration, should it extend outside the College’s athletic teams.
“I think this is a great idea,” Magda Manetas, SG advisor, said. “One concern is if everybody appears to be piling on with, ‘Well our group needs it,’ ‘Our group needs it,’ ‘Student Government needs it,’ I don’t think it will succeed and I really think it should be specific, pretty much, to varsity athletes.”
The Schedule Relief for Athletes would only apply while the sport was in season. Sports that overlap in seasons, such as swimming and wresting, would receive early registration for both the fall and spring semesters.
Next week, the Association of Students for Africa and To Write Love on Her Arms organizations will present to the SG general body for their vote to uphold Governmental Affairs decision to pass the clubs.
This month the committee on Equity and Diversity is co-sponsoring Queer Awareness Week with PRISM.
