The General Assembly approved a new constitution by a vote of 21 to 0, with four abstaining Sunday. The new document gives the Student Confederation and GA new names and alters the composition of the GA to make it smaller.
"This will create a more streamlined, efficient and effective government for the students," SC President Polson Kanneth said after the GA discussed, debated and voted on the document for six hours at a special session yesterday.
What's in a name?
The current General Assembly will be renamed Undergraduate Senate, and the current Student Confederation will become Student Government. It will cost about $2,000 to change the SC logo on signs, banners, folders and other SC materials, the GA reported.
Members who supported the changes said that the government should have a new name to reflect the new governing document and increasing relevance to the student body.
However, others opposed the change.
"The message we are sending by spending $2,000 on a name change is far greater than the message we are sending by changing the name," said GA member Joe Gallina, who introduced an amendment to keep the names the same. However, the amendment didn't pass.
The change comes in response to concerns about the negative connotations associated with the names. Kanneth said that once a parent approached him and said that his child would be interested in joining the "confederacy," that was when Kanneth realized that the name might give some the wrong impression.
"It might sound kind of funny, but it's a serious thing," Kanneth said.
At the meeting, representative Brian Brown spoke in favor of the change, noting that one of the Merriam-Webster definitions of "confederacy" is "a combination of persons for unlawful purposes."
Size matters
Another change in the constitution is that the GA will go from 40 to 30 members. The Undergraduate Senate will be composed of six senators from each class and six at-large senators. Brown said that this representation is both effective and simple.
"With this, you have 12 members that represent you," he said. "You can find one in 12 that represents your interests."
Currently the body represents classes, halls and schools, so each student is part of three different constituencies. Members who supported the new composition said that this representation is less confusing for constituents, and a decrease in the size of the body overall will increase efficiency.
"I feel that my seat is redundant," said Zach Ulrich, a hall representative. "I think it's redundant and I think it's inefficient."
However, this issue was one of the most highly contested in the session because some members were reluctant to create a senate without hall representatives. Joe Vidulich, a hall representative, said that hall representatives are the most easily accessible members to constituents.
"The people that you know best are those people who you live with," said Vidulich. "They know who you are. They are the one you are most connected with."
He introduced numerous amendments to Article I, Section 2, which defines the composition of the senate. None were adopted, but some came to close votes.
Some students outside the GA agree that a smaller body would make the GA more effective.
"I've found most student governments are out of touch with the people they represent, so I'd support any constitution that allows the SC to get more in touch with students ... so it sounds like a smaller, quicker SC will improve it overall," said John Fallon, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Lara Hogan, a sophomore in CAS, agreed.
"As far as effectiveness goes, I can see how decreasing membership will increase effectiveness, and relevance to students as a body could help make issues that are primarily student-related be dealt with effectively," she said.
Other adjustments
Members hope that other, less controversial changes will help streamline the operation of the body. For instance, the GA approved changing the constitution to have the Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure govern the operation of meetings, rather than Robert's Rules of Order. Robert's Rules are made for much larger legislative bodies, while the Standard Code is simpler and more relevant to a small body the GA's size.
The constitution was also changed because its purpose had become irrelevant. In the 1990s the SC was charged with funding clubs, so the constitution was structured to facilitate that. With the creation of the AU Club Coucil to fund clubs independently, that was no longer the SC's role.
Also at the meeting, GA member Sean Johnson resigned due to time constraints. His resignation had nothing to do with the constitution or other GA members, Johnson said.
The vote
After some members threatened to vote against the document, GA Speaker Richard Bradbury explained that the document must pass because Student Activities has mandated that the SC create a new constitution.
"If we do not pass a constitution by the end of this meeting ... we will not exist. We have to get this through in some from or another," Bradbury said.
Student Activities Director Karen Gerlach told the GA that they had to approve a new constitution by the spring semester, according to Bradbury.
Student input
Students will have the opportunity to vote on the new document in a special election in coming weeks. The new constitution will become official if two-thirds of the student body approves it.
"I am optimistic that students will realize the tireless work of the GA over the past five months and trust that this new constitution will lead towards a more efficient and effective student government," said Ben Murray, chairman of the Committee on Government Operations. "The days of politicking and backroom dealing are over and I believe students can have faith in their student government once again."
Brian Brown, vice chair of the Committee on Government Operations, which is charged with creating the new constitution, was also pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
"In the end there were a lot of great questions and insights that mended some of the remaining holes and made it a document that I think the student body can be proud of," he said.
