DeKALB — The Student Government Association Senate appointed the 2022 Board of Elections at Sunday’s meeting, along with appointing Senator Jacob Burg as the Chair of the Board of Elections.

The Senate appointed the five members of the 2022 Board of Elections to oversee Spring SGA elections in the last week of March. The Senate appointed Senator Jacob Burg, Senator James McCue, Senator Curtis Baryla, SGA Vice President James Holmes and Senator Maeve Wallace. 

The Senate also approved Senator Benjamin Hickey as one of two backup members to the Board of Elections who serve if the primary members of the board resign or are unable to serve. Speaker of the Senate Dallas Douglass expressed that he would write up a new piece of legislation to appoint the second backup member for the spring semester, as they had only had six people who accepted nomination to fill the seven available seats.

Other business 

The Senate unanimously appointed Jason Blair, a first-year history major, as a senator. 

Blair spoke before the Senate to outline his goals as a senator, including adding more healthful options to the vending machines around campus.

“There aren’t a lot of health options here when the dining halls are closed,” Blair said. “If students just don’t have the opportunity to get food and the only option they have is M&Ms, that’s a problem.”

Senator James McCue was appointed as the new chairperson of the Organization Oversight Committee, which works with student organizations to ensure their constitutions follow university guidelines, following former chairperson Clayton Schopfer, who had to resign from the Senate to study abroad in Spring 2022.

“I believe that Senator McCue is the best candidate for this position,” Schopfer said. “He has been a very active participant in all conversations in the committee.”

The Senate made an amendment to their bylaws that would require organizations seeking recommendation for recognition by the Organization Oversight Committee to meet with the committee to discuss their constitutions before being recommended. 

Chairperson Schopfer emphasized that this was designed to make the recommendation process easier by allowing the Organization Oversight Committee to work with organizations to fix problems that would prevent them from being recognized.

“It allows us to make the (recognition) process easier and more accessible,” Schopfer said.

The Senate approved a motion to officially recognize the Men’s Gymnastics Club. The group has a long-term goal of becoming a varsity sport, a several years-long process that starts with them being a club.

The Senate also officially recognized the Northern Illinois University Rover Club, an organization that focuses on the development and constructions of rovers designed for planetary and  celestial body exploration.