During its meeting Thursday, the Student Government Association discussed and approved motions aiding the opportunity for students to vote for a Green Fund fee.
Green fees are used to support campus efficiency and student projects in an effort to initiate and support advancements in sustainability at schools, according to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators website (naspa.org).
Franklin White, senator of the College of Liberal Arts, said the fund was brought up by the Environmental Awareness Club to spread awareness and possibly introduce it to UTRGV.
The first motion proposed revising the referendum guidelines to reduce the needed petition signed by at least 10% of the enrolled students in the most recent fall semester down to 3%.
“In order to establish any fee, we have to go through referendum guidelines,” said Ingrid De La Torre, president of the SGA and a communication studies senior. “In those guidelines, it had a very specific [rule that] 10% of the student body has to vote in order for us to get a new fee.”
She said after looking at all the data from previous polls from a variety of events, such as SGA and Homecoming royalty elections, it was revealed that there was a low percentage of students actually voting. De la Torre said this meant the likelihood of 10% of students voting was not likely to happen.
“So, the motion that was made today was to change that 10% to a 3%,” she said. “And that makes it a little more realistic, so then students will get to vote whether they want a green fee or [if] they don’t want a green fee.”
Montserrat Pardo, chair of the Senate, said this is the first time this part of Section C of the referendum guidelines was changed since it was made in 2015.
After doing a rough calculation, she said the reduction would ask for around 1,000 students instead of about 3,500.
The second motion was to establish an SGA voter referendum for a Green Fund fee by two-thirds vote of the senate.
The motion ultimately said that if two-thirds of the senate voted in favor, SGA would support a voter referendum for a green fee.
“Everyone voted yes,” De La Torre said. “That means that SGA is supporting [a] referendum for a green fee. So, that means that it’s happening, but SGA also supports it because we know that this is what the students want, and we want it as well.”
She said one of the initiatives on their platform was sustainability, which is also something the executive team cares about.
