DeKALB – The Student Government Association is creating an internal code of conduct for their elected officials, following the concerns of students over recent SGA employee behavior, according to a Nov. 17 SGA news release. SGA will not limit their employees’ right to free speech, but do believe SGA employees should treat other students with respect, the news release said.

SGA released this statement so the students knew it was on SGA’s radar, Speaker of the Senate Brad Beyer said.

“We just started this project, so there’s a lot of ironing out specifics to do,” Beyer said. “We want to have information in our governing documents that makes it clear that the conduct of elected officials matters.”

Specifically, students were concerned over SGA Vice President Kyle Jacobson’s social media support for the Blue Lives Matter Movement and Turning Point USA, according to an Oct. 19 Northern Star article. 

Because elected SGA officials are there to represent the students professionally, SGA wants to make sure that they are being held accountable, Beyer said.

“There’s a lot going on in the world right now, especially in how people perceive their elected officials, so it’s important to keep our elected officials accountable,” Beyer said.

For more information about the code of conduct, contact Deputy Speaker Dallas Douglass at [email protected].