On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Student Association (SA) met for the second time this spring semester. Four resolutions were passed at this meeting and three new senators were sworn in.

In his officer report, SA President Grant Mathu noted that the results of the UW system free speech survey have been announced. The survey was sent to UW students last November asking about a range of topics related to free speech in the classroom and on their respective campuses.

Local Affairs Director Amelia Fortner reminded SA in her officer report to vote in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court primary elections on Feb. 21. and asked members to spread the word.

During organization reports, International Student Organization (ISO) Senator Spark Lim brought attention to an event from the Hmong Organization Promoting Education (HOPE) student organization, featuring two keynote speakers talking about spirituality and gender social constructs.

The first resolution SA discussed was encouraging the Wisconsin state legislature to restore and strengthen student shared governance statutes based on changes made in 2015 limiting students’ role in student government.

Asian Latinx African Native American+ Womxn (ALANA) Senator Terra Clark asked a general question wondering why these changes in the legislature were made. President Mathu responded, “Just to streamline the operation of universities, make it more efficient at the expense of students, which is not convincing to a whole bunch of people in student government.” SA then voted to pass this resolution.

The following resolution was to approve a student member of the associate dean for the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CASSH) Search and Screen Committee. The two-week rule was suspended and CASSH Senator, Cameron Seebruch has unanimously been appointed to the position by SA.

Another resolution regarding CASSH was passed at this meeting. SA voted to suspend the two-week rule to fill the vacant CASSH Senator seat. In a unanimous vote, Natalee Chiroff was sworn in and will serve in this position for the remainder of the 2022-2023 academic year.

In the final resolution, the newest elected senators to represent Black Student Unity (BSU) and HOPE were recognized. BSU Senator, Alex White and HOPE Senator, Evelyn Her, were sworn in and are additions to the ten seats in the SA Human Diversity Organizations.