Representatives from the student governments at MU gathered for the Spring 2013 Joint Session on Thursday night in Jesse Wrench Auditorium. The session marks the one time each semester in which members give updates on progress, share recent events and pass legislation.
Of the eight organizations invited, seven – the Missouri Students Association, Residence Halls Association, Graduate Professional Council, Legion of Black Collegians, Four Front, Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council – were present. The National Pan-Hellenic Council failed to show.
Kristofferson Culmer, president of the Graduate Professional Council, took the gavel and chaired the session as each organization spoke about accomplishments and overall progress during the the spring semester.
MSA Senate Speaker McKenzie Morris reflected on the drastic changes of the association’s budget, RHA Outgoing-President Zack Folk shared successes in passing a health and safety resolution for each residence hall and the LBC Incoming-President Marnae Chavers informed others of a candlelight vigil for the first tenured black MU professor, Arvarh E. Strickland.
Ben Bolin, MSA operations committee chairman, was the first to introduce and explain one of three pieces legislation on the floor, a bill forming the joint session articles of confederation. The bill laid out formal guidelines for each upcoming joint session, such as which organization are able to attend.
“We realized that there’s no formal process saying whether or not people (interested) can or cannot come,” Bolin said.
The bill passed with six yeas and one abstention.
David Wettroth, the MSA senator behind the Mizzou Off-Campus Mentorship program, announced his program through legislation calling for the joint session’s support. The program would hire mentors who would keep freshmen living off-campus in the loop.
“It’s a rough situation (living off-campus), and (the program is) something we’re creating to remove that disconnect from campus,” Wettroth said.
Presenting the legislation to the joint session was an effort to being legitimacy to the program, Wettroth said.
MSA President Nick Droege, in another bill calling for joint support of a new program, announced the “soft closing,” a policy in which Columbia bars would stop serving alcohol an hour before closing time to allow customers to organize ways to get home.
“It would still allow businesses to conduct business,” Droege said. “For instance, a bar can still sell Gatorade and food within the hour.”
Both Wettroth’s and Droege’s legislation passed with all yeas as LBC Incoming-President Marnae Chavers adjourned the meeting.