Ben Strand/ Winonan
The meeting on Feb. 18 was an “action items only” meeting, meaning“there were no reports, only active business items were voted on.”
A few members of the senate, including President Jessica Hepinstall, were away to the cities for a lobbying event called “Advocacy Day,” by the Minnesota State University Student Association (MSUSA) resulting in the shorter meeting.
At the meeting, the two winners of the supplemental election, Cory Marsolek of the liberal arts seat and Garrick Hoekstra of the senior seat, were installed.
The senators passed a zero percent increase to the Integrated Wellness Complex fee, and the following motions were passed: $20 to Student Council for Exception Children, $999.00 to the mass communication department and $741.02 to the American Marketing Association.
The meeting on Feb. 25 was just under three hours, and there was a large audience in the gallery.
The first motion passed was $555.40 to the Panhellenic, which is an umbrella organization of the Greek society.
A second motion gave $375.00 to the Minnesota Student Nursing Association at WSU-Rochester.
One motion was tabled, which asked for $3,207.92 to the WSU Dance Society.
The Clery Act motion was introduced. The senate is seeking to ensure that Winona State University is compliant with the Clery Act, which deals with how universities handle sexual assaults and other crimes on campus.
They discussed policies, educational materials, security statistics and reports on sexual assault at Winona State.
There was testimony and statements in support of the motion from students, faculty and staff. Among advocates were members from Full Spectrum, FORGE, TKE, Phi Theta Chi, Tamara Berg, director Connie Kamara and President Scott Olson.
The senate wants to make sure Winona State handles sexual assault issues in the best way possible, President Hepinstall said.
The senate has been working on the motion over the last week and will continue to discuss it at the upcoming meeting on Wednesday.
