The Student Association (SA) Senate met Sunday night to discuss changes to the SA constitution.

During Sunday’s meeting, a resolution was proposed to amend the SA constitution to require a minimum GPA of 2.5 to serve on the SA Senate, up from the previous requirement of 2.0. After significant debate, the amendment passed.

Senator Brian Troutman thinks the amendment is a bad idea because there is already a lack of senators.

“Why are we increasing our standards in a time when the senate is not full?” he said. “We shouldn’t be putting additional restrictions on student involvement.”

Senator Rebecca Clark thinks the lack of student participation in the senate is due to poor advertising. She said senators should set a positive example with their grades.

“The lack of students going after senate positions is because I think they don’t know about it,” Clark said. “We are all students, we came here to be students first, so we need to step back and realize we are leaders and we should set a good example for students. If someone does come to us with a 2.0 GPA, we really should turn them away and tell them to focus on their academics first.”

Senator Brandon Phillips agrees with Clark that students should focus on being a student first and foremost.

“I am encouraged by this amendment to the constitution,” Phillips said. “I believe the leaders of the SA should also be leaders in the classroom. I believe that even a 3.0 GPA is attainable.”

Senator Richard Young agrees with Clark and Phillips.

“The SA Senate was never advertised to me and I don’t think it’s the GPA requirement that’s turning people away,” Young said. “I agree with raising the GPA, maybe 3.0 is a little high, I would put it at 2.75. That’s the minimum GPA for the College of Business, one of the harder schools at NIU. I think we’d still accomplish the goal of academic excellence.”

John Jones III, senate adviser and associate vice president for Student Affairs, thinks students should focus on academics first and foremost.

“Part of what we do as administration is provide learning experiences and prepare you to be incredibly successful after graduation,” Jones said. “A 2.0 would not get you into graduate school, it would not make you competitive for jobs if you’re competing with everyone else who just graduated, with barely above a C. You’re a student first; everything you do should focus on academics. We’re trying to help students understand how to be successful, giving them a firm foundation to graduate in four years. We need to send a message to our campus and our nation that we take academics seriously.”

Along with this resolution, another resolution passed unanimously to support the advancement of NIU’s recreation facilities. NIU Table Tennis was also recognized as an organization.

SA Senate met in the Holmes Student Center’s Heritage Room. The senate was unable to meet in its regular meeting room, the Sky Room, due to a scheduling conflict.