DeKALB | Brian Hemphill, vice president of Student Affairs, spoke at the Student Association Senate meeting Sunday night.

Hemphill said he and the SA have a shared purpose: “To ensure our students have a great experience.” Hemphill applauded the SA on its work as part of NIU’s shared governance system, where the students serve on the university council along with faculty members and administrators.

He encouraged senators to go to their committee meetings, and, if they could not, find someone to go in their stead. He said it is a unique situation when the president of a university will have one-on-one meetings with students before making a funding decision.

“If you have an active voice, I encourage you to use it,” Hemphill said.

He also stressed the importance of the work the SA does. He said their work with funding, leadership programs and services like Students’ Legal Assistance and Campus Child Care was important.

“Without the work of this particular group, those kind of things could not happen,” Hemphill said.

The SA should also publicize their role to the student body, Hemphill said for his third point. He said groups on campus are not getting information and it is important for people to know what the SA is doing in their free time to help the students.

He closed with a reminder that the SA represents 26,000 students. He said the SA should not get caught up representing its own views but those of its constituencies.

After Hemphill’s speech, two student organizations were approved. The first, Alpha Omega Nu, is a Christian service fraternity and currently has seven members.

“This organization seems like it is very organized,” said Josh Alvarado, a senator from District 1.

The Northern Illinois Players, a theater group, was also approved as official. The Players say they want to be an outlet for non-theater majors to get into production. Since it is near the end of the year, the first show may not be until next semester, Jennifer Dougherty, NI Players president, said. The group hopes to hold shows in Cole Hall, a ballroom in the Holmes Student Center, or possibly the Egyptian Theatre.