The Student Government Association (SGA) held its first public meeting of the 2020-21 academic year via Zoom Thursday afternoon.

Senators Mike Lingard, Jordan Newsome-Little and Jazmin Petrantonio were not present.

SGA President Stephen Washington, opened the meeting and announced that the SGA public meetings for this semester will be held once a month. Washington said this was done to give the SGA more time to address campus issues since the group is operating remotely this semester. There was no indication whether the meetings would be remote or not in the spring.

After Washington’s remarks, Lance Hines-Butts, SGA vice president of external affairs, said that some on-campus students feel isolated. To keep students connected, Hines-Butts announced that SGA would hold a drive-in movie Saturday night. 

The meeting then moved on to senator reports. 

Skylar Walder, female athletics senator, said student athletes participated in the ONESHIP initiative. Student athletes attended a two-hour session to learn about equality and how their voices matter during the election year, according to Walder.

“It gave us confidence in realizing we have a voice and can make change in the upcoming election,” Walder said.

During board reports, Emma Poznick, the president of the Activities Program Board (APB), reported that:

• APB has hosted 10 events

• APB will have contact hours instead of office hours; APB will reply to emails almost instantly during this time

• APB members will be available for one-on-one Zoom sessions upon request

Patrick Ramsdale, SUTV general manager, represented the Campus Media Board and shared updates about student media organizations:

• The Slate won first place in the American Scholastic Press Association contest

• PRSSA has held four meetings and established Shippensburg University ROTC and the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team as campus client groups

• WSYC has live shows on the air and is preparing for future events

• SUTV is airing prerecorded shows instead of live shows because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

After approving to grant voting rights to new SGA committee members, Riley Brown, vice president of student groups, motioned to approve the Democratic Socialists at SU as a campus registered organization. The motion passed with 17 votes in favor and four abstaining.

Brown then motioned to reinstate the College Republicans as a campus registered organization. That motion passed with 14 votes in favor, one opposing and four abstaining.

There are two more SGA public meetings scheduled for the fall semester. SGA officials will meet for Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 via Zoom and at 4 p.m.

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