Emory students will participate in a referendum to vote on two amendments to the Student Government Association (SGA) Constitution during the election period, which takes place starting tonight at 8 p.m. and continues until Monday, March 2 at 8 p.m.
The student body was notified about the referendum in an all-student email on behalf of SGA. The email contained the text of the amendment that will appear on the election ballot as well as links to the full texts of both bills that proposed the amendments.
The first amendment proposes a measure of public scrutiny — or the widespread distribution of information to students and the hosting of a public forum — on all matters that the bill describes as “Issues of Significance.” These issues are defined in the amendment as: amendments to the Constitution, changes to bylaws, codes or governing documents concerning the collection or distribution of fees (including the Student Activity Fee) and changes to the manner in which offices are chosen and changes to the number of divisional councils.
The bill was proposed by Elections Board Chair and College junior Reuben Lack. At this past Monday’s SGA meeting, the Legislature unanimously passed the bill with no dissent, meeting the minimum requirement to pass an amendment to the Constitution, which is two-thirds of the Legislature or 26 affirmative votes — whichever is higher.
If the amendment is passed, it would stipulate that the Speaker of the Legislature notify the student body of all “Issues of Significance” in a timely manner, including email notifications on the day the issue appears on SGA’s agenda and throughout the legislative process. The bill also requires that a public forum be held to discuss the issue and requires attendance from a representative from all branches of SGA and all the divisional councils, which include the governing bodies of each of Emory’s schools. The forum must also be held in a place accessible to students.
The amendment will take effect if and only if a majority of the students voting in elections affirm it.
The second amendment to the Constitution, which was also unanimously approved by the Legislature with no dissent, would replace any instances of pronouns that enforce a gender binary, e.g. “his” or “her,” which the gender-inclusive pronouns “they,” “them” and “their.” These pronouns are meant to include the identities of nonbinary individuals, including those who are genderqueer and gender nonconforming, among others.
The Wheel reported that the debate surrounding gender-inclusive pronouns includes concerns about English grammar rules, specifically that the pronoun “they,” which is standardly a plural pronoun, will refer to singular individuals.
However, SGA President and College junior Jon Darby said he believed the goal of gender inclusivity is more important than these grammar concerns.
As with the first amendment, this amendment will take effect if a majority of the students voting in the election affirm the amendment. The election ballot, which will contain the amendments, will be accessible to all students via a link in an email from the Elections Board when the election period begins tonight at 8 p.m.
Rupsha Basu (16C) was the Emory Wheel's executive editor from 2015-2016 and served as the Wheel's news editor prior to that. She currently attends New York University School of Law.
