The University of Memphis Student Government Association held its first meeting of the spring semester last Thursday.
Although several senators were attending the Up ‘Til Dawn activities, four travel funds bills were passed, and SGA president Karimeh Abdel-Jaber appointed a new vice president.
In a vote of 11 to 0, Laura Pevahouse was elected to the position of vice president, following the resignation of Elizabeth Shelly from the post.
“I’m very excited about being able to just jump right into things,” Pevahouse said.
Since her appointment, Pevahouse has already presented the Mr. and Miss University of Memphis winners with plaques that should have been presented last semester.
“The ball got dropped,” Pevahouse said.
Project Unite is currently another one of Pevahouse’s major concerns, which she hopes to plan for the first or second week of April.
The event will last only one week instead of the entire month it is usually allotted, so that students will be able to focus more on the activities and for a shorter amount of time.
“This is an important event that has been overlooked in the past, and I really want to get students involved this year,” Pevahouse said.
Pevahouse also wants to set up a “meet-and-greet” session in which students will be invited to meet the SGA senators and officers and ask questions in a casual setting. The session may be held simultaneously with the planned Town Hall meetings, which the SGA has said will be held for students to voice their complaints or questions in an open forum.
“The SGA wants to be the voice for the students,” Pevahouse said.
Student Government activity on campus was the subject of several comments made at Thursday’s meeting.
Senator Don Johnson encouraged the SGA to “step up the activity level a little bit,” citing complaints from a friend who said that the SGA “hasn’t done a lot on campus this year.”
Bill Porter, dean of students and adviser to the SGA, also encouraged the senate to get involved in campus activities and to work to raise awareness of the funding problems for higher education in Tennessee.
“Hopefully there will be some very purposeful discussion about what SGA can do to be instrumental in raising awareness about this issue of funding,” Porter said.
He also suggested that the SGA members attend as many sports events as possible.
The SGA is planning a trip to Nashville in April to meet with state legislators about the current problems with higher education in this state.
