DeKALB – The Student Government Association voted on Bill SR56011 which approved Isabella Montoya as the director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The bill passed in a vote of 14-0-0.
Montoya, a junior nursing major, explained why she’d be effective in the role and what goals she’s going to accomplish in the role.
“I’ve become deeply passionate about creating spaces where everyone feels respected, valued and included, that and why I believe I’ll be an excellent fit for the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Throughout my time at NIU, I’ve worked to make our campus more inclusive in various ways. I have the honor of serving as the Northern Ambassador, which gives me the platform to represent our university and share my experiences with prospective students,” Montoya said. “My goal would center around three main areas: education, support and policy. First, I’ll work to increase diversity education by organizing engaging events and workshops that encourage meaningful conversations. It’s important that we not only recognize our differences, but that we understand and appreciate them all as well. These events would create opportunities for students, faculty and staff, to learn from one another and build deeper connections across different backgrounds.”
Speaker Corpuz issues warning to senators
SGA Speaker Manny Corpuz asserted his expectations for senators to carry out their commitments.
“This serves as your final warning from me. Starting next week, I will be expecting all of you to be fully engaged with your committees and your other responsibilities for SGA. It is not my job to babysit you all and to babysit each committee, but I want to make sure that you guys felt comfortable with the most important aspects of SGA,” Corpuz said. “You are all college students. You all know what you signed up for, and you all know what I expect from you. Moving forward, it is not my responsibility to make sure you guys are doing what you are supposed to be doing on a weekly basis. If this seems like too much, any or too many expectations for you, I apologize, but you are wasting your time sitting here right now.”
A New Energy saving agreement
Aidan O’Brien, student trustee for SGA, gave an executive branch report about a new energy savings agreement the Board of Trustees passed.
“Now some exciting news. So this past Wednesday, on the Oct. 9 meeting the university and Board of Trustees just passed and entered into an energy savings agreement with Trane, a contracting company. So what this will do for the university is provide HVAC upgrades, lighting upgrades, water improvements, building steel improvements, solar panels and EV (electric vehicle) chargers. So the total capital cost for this is $56 million and this will be financed over 20 years, with total cost estimating to be $123.4 million. So this is a large contract that now you just entered into. However, the total savings estimate for 28 years is $144 million,” O’Brien said.
Newly-confirmed student organizations
SGA passed Bill SR56014 in a vote of 13-0-0 to confirm four new organizations. The new organizations are as follows: National Pre-Med Association Chapter at Northern Illinois University, NIU Law Review, Sports and Entertainment Law Society and Alpha Epsilon Delta.
SGA senate meetings are open to the public and held at 4 p.m. Fridays, with locations posted in the senate’s agendas. SGA minutes and intent-to-speak forms are available on Huskie Hub.
