SGA welcomes new senators Tuesday night, passes new bills

New senators were sworn in at the second Student Government Association meeting of the year Tuesday night and new resolutions and bills were also passed at the meeting.

Josh Sorbe, a business administration and political science double major, and Andrew Silva, an international studies major, were sworn in as first-year senators.

Sorbe and Silva said they’re excited to be advocates for the class of 2020.

“I think that I can make a difference at the University of South Dakota by representing the class of 2020, and work on policy that will help make the university a better place,” Sorbe said.

“I hope to be a help to SGA and to the freshman class by being a voice for them and resolving issues,” Silva said.

Dillon Bryant, a studio arts major, and Catie Dougherty, a political science major, were sworn in as at-large senators. Bryant and Dougherty are also excited to serve their peers.

“My goal is to give more visibility to the college of fine arts and the art department and to help serve this campus better,” Bryant said.

“I look forward to being a contact for students to ask questions so we can have a voice for them by writing legislation,” Dougherty said.

Along with swearing in the two first-year senators and two at-large senators, senate resolutions number 12 and 13 were passed and senate bills number 51 and 52 were passed.

• Senate Resolution number 12 establishes a Student Organization Outreach Program. Through this program, each of the senators are responsible for reaching out to six organizations for the remainder of their term. There will be no more than one senator per organization, and they must reach out to the organizations twice a semester, attending at least one of the organization’s meetings. Each senator will then pick three of their six organizations to represent. 

• Senate Resolution number 13 supports National Arts in Education Week. The resolution encourages students, staff and faculty to participate through social media by using the hashtags #BecauseOfArtsEd and #ArtsEdWeek to share their stories about the impact of arts education in their lives. It also encourages the USD community to attend various celebration activities on campus and in the community throughout the week.

• Senate bill number 51 approves the Student Bar Association as a Student Government Association funded organization. This bill was passed unanimously.

• Senate bill number 52 approves funding for CASPA, the Coalition of Addiction Students and Professionals Pursuing Advocacy. This bill was passed 24-1.