By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed two bills at its weekly meeting and announced plans for hurricane relief efforts on Sept. 27.
Resolution F-2017-03, in opposition of the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was opened for debate. Baldween Casseus, SG’s vice president of diversity and inclusion and a senior marketing major, announced that her committee polled 88 constituents on their thoughts on the DACA resolution, and 83 of the 88 students supported the resolution opposing the Trump Administration’s stance on DACA.
“TCNJ is striving to create a more diverse and inclusive environment. Even if it was only one student that was affected by DACA, that’s one member of our community that will be gone,” Casseus said.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein stated in a campus-wide email sent out on Sept. 5, that over a dozen students at the College are currently supported by DACA.
“If there are only 12 of them or if there are more, we still need to defend every single one of them,” said Desaree Vaughan, a freshman class council member and a math and secondary education dual major. “We are representatives for all students.”
Ultimately, Resolution F-2017-03 won the majority vote of the voting members and passed.
SG also passed Bill F-2017-02, entitled “Programming Point Systems for Resolutions,” to allow members to gain points for being the primary sponsorship of a resolution. A friendly amendment was added to cap the number of maximum points that a SG member can earn for writing resolutions to three points per semester.
Justin Brach, speaker of the General Assembly and a junior finance and political science double major, encouraged more members to write resolutions so they are not just initiated by cabinet members.
Brach indicated the importance of the General Assembly using its voice to, “take a stance on different issues that are important to the students that you represent.”
According to members of the Student Transitions Council, reviews from freshman students have been positive since the College went back to the on-campus model for orientation. This year, less freshmen and transfer students have experienced homesickness than in previous years. The council wants to shift some of their attention to seniors to ensure that they have enough information to transition out of the College into either the workforce or further education.
Chris Blakeley, SG’s executive president and a junior civil engineering major, discussed the College’s hurricane relief fundraising campaign, “Here for Home, Always.” Organizers of the hurricane relief effort plan to incorporate as many of the College’s student organizations as possible. As of Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m., the campaign has raised $850. “Here for Home, Always” can be found on h4halways.com as well as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
SG also announced Homecoming king and queen applications are now open. Seniors can access applications via LionsGate.
