The Student Government Association met March 3 for its weekly senate meeting to hear updates from the president and standing committees, and to appoint a new Internal Affairs Standing Committee chair.
SGA President Denisse Molina-Castro and Senator Kanea MacDonald reported on their trip to the state capitol, where they represented UTRGV at “Advocacy Day,” an opportunity for student leaders from around the state to meet with lawmakers to lobby for issues that affect college campuses across Texas.
Molina-Castro said three main issues discussed were sexual assault reform, tax-free textbooks and a good Samaritan policy, which would protect students from any charges when reporting an emergency that involves drugs or alcohol.
“There have been many lives lost across college campuses simply because students were scared to call authorities because they may have illegal substances,” Molina-Castro said. “The Advocacy Coalition group will continue on next year’s legislative session.”
MacDonald said “Advocacy Day” was a valuable experience that she hopes the university will continue to fund.
“It was a really great experience,” she said. “I would strongly suggest that we continue participating in ‘Advocacy Day.’”
Molina-Castro concluded her report by mentioning plans from the Advisory Committee on forming a new committee that would be responsible for reviewing and revising governing documents.
“We’ve noticed that as the institution formed there were many situations that weren’t foreseen,” Molina-Castro said. “We need to make sure that our documents are helpful.”
Jonathan Tyler Gonzalez, chair of the Financial Affairs committee, reminded the senate of the travel funds deadline, which is March 15.
Kristina Cantu, chair of the Community Affairs committee, gave an update on a meeting the committee held with Auxiliary Services and Sodexo.
“We are working on increasing variety on the Brownsville campus,” Cantu said. “They are also working on creating catering options for student organizations who wish to purchase large quantities of food from Sodexo at a discounted price.”
Cantu said that in response to student complaints about C-Store prices, Sodexo has agreed to review some of those prices so that students may find those items more affordable. If there are any specific store prices that students would like to have reviewed, they may be sent to the SGA so that they may be discussed at its next meeting with Auxiliary Services.
The senate then voted to appoint Gabriela Azuara as the Internal Affairs Standing Committee chair, which concluded the meeting.
The next SGA meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. March 24 in Education Complex 1.102 on the Edinburg campus and Biomedical Research Building 1.222 on the Brownsville campus. Meetings are open to the campus community.
