The 47th Legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) passed a bill yesterday evening that reforms the chartering bylaw process for student organizations and also voted to require class syllabi to direct students to appropriate resources in the event of bias or discrimination.
For bills to be passed, the Legislature must vote on them during two consecutive legislative sessions.
The Legislature convened for both its eighth and ninth sessions yesterday in order to expedite the passage of the bills on the agenda.
The bill condenses the club chartering process to a two-week period in which the club is first approved by the SGA Attorney General based on SGA requirements, and then by the divisional councils based on their respective requirements.
Full-time MBA Goizueta Business School student David Kaplan and SGA Attorney General and College junior Chris Weeden presented the bill to the Legislature at last week's meeting. The bill was met with positive reviews from some SGA members last week, but some members, such as SGA Student Life Committee Chair and College senior Shaunesse Jacobs, had concerns about accountability on the part of the divisional councils to approve charters on time.
At this week's meeting, the bill moved straight to a vote without debate and the Legislature passed it unanimously on a 30-0-0 decision.
After the Legislature adjourned the eighth legislative session, they began the ninth legislative session. SGA unanimously passed the bill for the second time, officially changing the bylaws.
Since the SGA passed a temporary revision of the chartering bylaws last spring, they passed an amendment that grandfathers the stipulations of the new revisions into the existing bylaws.
SGA also voted to pass a bill that requires all academic classes to include a Diversity Statement in the professors' syllabi by the next academic year.
The statement must "demonstrate Emory's commitment to a welcoming environment" and "directs students to appropriate resources when they feel issues of bias arise in the classroom," according to the text of the bill.
According to SGA Vice President and College senior Ye Ji Kim, the bill author, the syllabi is a way to reach out to the entire student body to address and protect against prejudice in the classroom.
Kim said the statement reaffirms Emory's commitment to the right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation, among others.
The University Senate – which is made up of students, alumni, staff, deans, faculty and administrators – will formulate the statement.
The SGA Student Life Committee said that they unanimously supported the bill. It passed 25-0-4.
The Legislature also voted to grant the SGA President up to five executive assistants to be delegated across the Cabinet without the consent of the Legislature.
If the President would like to appoint more than five executive assistants, he or she must receive the approval of the Legislature.
Kaplan said he thinks the bill made a lot of sense, even though the Governance Committee rejected the bill because they did not quite understand its content. The bill passed on a 23-1-4 decision.
– By Rupsha Basu
