DeKALB – The Student Government Association voted to give $1,000 to the Huskie Food Pantry and elected a new senator Friday in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.
SGA COMMITS $1,000 TO HUSKIE FOOD PANTRY
SGA approved a resolution allocating $1,000 to cover operational expenses of the Huskie Food Pantry.
The resolution was proposed in midst of the Trump administration’s halting of SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown, which was challenged by two judges on Friday.
Senate Speaker Nathan Gonzalez anticipates an uptick in food pantry activity, as many in DeKalb rely on SNAP benefits.
“This will authorize student government to disperse $1,000 to Huskie Food Pantry, specifically to cover operating costs, that way it’s handled with the intent that it’s able to utilize its remaining funds because it’s not using its own funding to cover operating costs,” Gonzalez said.
He also spoke of the possibility that initiatives like this may continue in the future.
“Depending on how long the government shutdown lasts, I’m also open to having continuing resolutions in order to give and allocate more funds to the Huskie Food Pantry so long as the student government budget allows for it,” Gonzalez said.
The resolution passed unanimously.
ELECTION OF A NEW SENATOR
Daitrell Sanders, a sophomore computer science major, outlined his plans to promote awareness for financial aid and support for freshmen through the use of flyers in the Holmes Student Center in his run for SGA senate.
“You got the parties for Halloween that just happened, you have posters for clubs and everything, but you don’t really see posters for financial aid or for the support that most people look for when they first come here,” Sanders said.
He indicated NIU didn’t properly communicate events and services to which students may benefit from.
“I did research on my own at one point, I found out that NIU actually has a therapist session here, but the majority of people wouldn’t know that unless they actively looked for it,” Sanders said.
Sanders also addressed questions about his leadership experience to the senate.
“Over the summer I looked for a job and I worked with big city kids. My role there was to lead the other workers to make sure that they did what they had to do,” he said.
Deputy Speaker Eddie Guerrero asked Sanders about his motivation for joining SGA.
“I want to understand y’all on a grander scale,” he said. “I’m a computer science major.
Honestly, I’m really doing it as a hobby because I just want to learn how to do it. I also like to play games, that’s how I know how to do web design, make my own things.”
Further, Sanders explained his desire to be more involved in NIU.
“What made me join SGA or want to, is pretty much because coming to NIU, I realized there’s more to life than just your own circle,” he said. “I want to be able to be involved and make something matter.”
Sanders was elected in a 9-4 vote.
CODE AND ALLY TRAINING
The senate proposed a bill amending some duties and responsibilities for senators.
Among the changes, senators are required to attend either a Conversations on Diversity and Equity (CODE) Workshop or an Ally training session at least once during their one-year term, whereas before, senators were required to attend both per term.
Additionally, senators are no longer required to plan and execute an outreach program to their respective constituency, but are required to attend or execute at least one SGA public relations event related to their respective area of constituency per semester.
Senator Sky Boniecki expressed concern the bill’s language would not incentivize to provide adequate outreach for their constituents and rather, would prioritize mere attendance.
“If we have just a bunch of people attending, it’s not necessarily executing to get that outreach, ” Boniecki said.
Similarly, senator Luke Galloway expressed his outreach concerns, pointing to the removal of the outreach program requirement.
“I feel that we need to stand for our constituents and be accountable to them and be accessible to them,” Galloway said. “I think that having it as a requirement as it previously was was useful for that purpose.”
Speaker Gonzalez assured that the removal of the outreach requirement won’t change anything in practice, as he said it was functionally similar to the public relations requirement.
“In name there is supposed to be a difference but in actuality there’s not,” he said. “I am open to maybe flipping it or instead it’s the public relations portion is cut out but the constituency point still stands.”
This bill will be voted on at the next meeting.
The next SGA meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.
