On Wednesday, April 23, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Student Association (SA) gathered to hear from the Green Fund about a grant that will eventually be voted on, introduced and approved several resolutions and gave feedback on the Interim Chalking Policy and the Interim Expressive Activities on Campus Policy.
Two Green Fund coordinators visited SA to explain what the fund is, how the grant process works and the 2025 spring semester grants and budget. The Green Fund offers grants for initiatives that contribute to a more sustainable UWL. Every student at the university pays about $5 for the fund within their tuition each semester.
The coordinators said the large grants, those that are over $5,000, require the Joint Committee on Environmental Sustainability (JCES), the Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC) and SA to approve them. One of those grants is the grant for the sustainability program manager position, a role currently held by Andrew Ericson.
The proposed grant would go towards the UWL Green Bike program, which rents bikes to students for as long as their student careers. The program takes in used bikes, repairs them and recycles them to be rented out.
The following mini-grants, or grants under $5,000, were approved for the 2025 spring semester: The Prairie Springs Science Center lecture series grant; a grant for the Green Fund’s social media marketing intern and trainee positions; the supply grant for Earthapalooza; the sustainable food pantry products grant; the Hįnkџwas tree trail grant; a grant for 529 Garage, an initiative that addresses the bike theft issue on campus; and a grant to show the film “Bad River”.
In unfinished business, SA discussed and voted on a resolution written by Senator Morgan Hahn, titled “SA2425-031 Resolution to Recommend Faculty Senate to Implement a Policy on Timely Feedback on the First Exam of a Course.” The resolution, which would hopefully contribute to the success of students by providing important feedback in a timely manner, was unanimously passed.
The first new resolution that was introduced was to approve the spring 2025 SA election results. Justice Ephraim Anglemyer from the Student Court and the Election Commission came to speak to SA regarding the results. He explained that the commission decided to make changes to the allocation of seats in SA, which was later discussed in a separate resolution.
A resolution to update the guidelines for recognized student organization publicity to make promotional events easier and fairer was also introduced.
SUFAC Chair and Senator Marlee Simpson introduced the resolution to approve the aforementioned Green Bike program grant. The overall request is for about $17,000 to be used within the Green Bike program.
The next resolution was to confirm the update in the college seat distribution on the SA body. An assessment was conducted by the Election Commission on the student distribution, which will be done again every two years. President Emma Latus, the author of the resolution, said the updates are reflected in the results of the 2025 spring election.
Latus continued and introduced her resolution titled, “SA2425-035 Resolution Honoring Administrative Support Staff with the Thanks of the Senate.” Specifically, the resolution would honor Administrative Assistant for University Centers Karen Daniel, Financial Specialist for University Centers Tricia Pelishek and Executive Assistant for the Student Life Office Faith Hergen and recognize the work they do that assists SA.
The two-week rule was suspended, which means the body could vote the same week as the introduction of the resolution, and the resolution was unanimously approved.
Similarly, a resolution to approve the 2025 SA Higher Education Advocate of the Year Award recipient, Rusty Cunningham, was approved with the two-week rule suspended. Cunningham is a retired journalist and publisher at the La Crosse Tribune and an advocate for the completion of the Prairie Springs Science Center Phase Two project. He will received the award at the Passing of the Gavel Ceremony on April 30.
Chancellor James Beeby will be recognized in the resolution titled, “SA2425-037 Resolution to Recognize Dr. James Beeby’s First Year as the 11th Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.” The two-week rule was again suspended, and the resolution was passed.
The next resolution presented was to amend the Student Senate bylaws to change the wording in the mission statement and confirm the scope of recipients for the SA Higher Education Advocate of the Year Award.
Lastly, the resolution to enhance policy transparency and student involvement at the university was introduced. The resolution was created by the ad hoc committee for policy creation advisory that was made in response to the Interim Chalking Policy. If passed, the resolution would be sent to all shared governance groups and would call for more student involvement in policy creation.
SA then moved on to the discussion point for the evening: the Interim Chalking Policy and the Interim Expressive Activities on Campus Policy. Dean of Students Kara Ostlund requested feedback on the policies from a variety of shared governance groups, including SA, to incorporate into a permanent future policy.
Senator Alexa Fleegal raised her concern about the policy’s statement that the university “may” remove any chalk after 48 hours. She said if only some chalkings are removed after 48 hours, but others are allowed to remain up, then it is not true free speech. Furthermore, she doesn’t believe carrying out the enforcement of the 48-hour policy would be feasible.
Ostlund said only one chalking request has been denied thus far, and that enforcement of the policy has been consistent.
Senator Isabel Piarulli spoke for student organizations on campus and reminded SA of how they felt rebuffed upon the policy’s introduction. She said the root of the issue was the fact that students weren’t at all involved in its creation.
SA will meet for their final meeting on Wednesday, May 7, to discuss and vote on the last resolutions of the year.
