After months of negotiations, the Associated Student Government Senate passed a resolution on Senate reconstruction Wednesday that subtracted no senator seats but made changes to the quality and conditions of the application process.
Before being amended by the Senate, the proposed bill called to cut the original 51 senators to 34. The 34 senators would be comprised of eight senators from the Greek caucus, five off-campus senators, 10 senators from the Residence Hall Association/Residential College Board and 11 student groups caucus representatives. Besides changing numbers, the proposal also asked for the construction of a Student Groups Apportionment Committee, which would annually select student groups that would receive seats in the Senate.
Because student group seats would be cut, the proposal said groups could apply as individual organizations or in coalitions with other groups with similar interests or constituencies. The student groups would have to undergo a rigorous application process. It also provided harsher punishments for perpetual senator seat vacancies.
Although the bill garnered some support, many senators did not agree with cutting seats. As a result, the Senate voted to keep the number at 51 and to amend the redistricting process that would occur if RHA/RCB seats were cut. However, they agreed to keep all the other elements of the bill.
Senator Aaron Zelikovich said decreasing the number of senators would be detrimental to the student body.
“I cannot stand to agree to cutting the voice of students at Northwestern,” the Weinberg freshman said. “With more senators, we’ll be able to do more and hear more students out.”
Zelikovich added one of the current problems of the ASG structure is some students do not know or do not feel connected to the senators that represent them. Cutting the number of senators, he said, would exacerbate this problem.
Despite these negative effects, some senators and executive board members thought the bill would be a good solution to ASG’s internal issues.
David Harris, vice president of services and one of the submitters of the bill, said although the number of senators stayed the same, the most important parts of the bill passed.
“When we set out to complete Senate reform, fundamentally our goals were to create a Senate that is more effective, accountable and engaged,” the SESP freshman said. “What we passed does all the things I just said.”
Still, Harris was disappointed when the Senate asked to vote as an entire body instead of through roll call, which would allow each individual senator’s choice on cutting the number of seats to be open to the public.
“That is incredibly cowardly, unfair and counter to what ASG is trying to do, which is to honestly and fairly further the interests of the entire student body,” he said.
Parliamentarian Jill Grewe said even though the current bill contains ambiguous elements, such as the description of the student group senator election process, the bill will improve Senate.
“I think that it takes measures for accountabilitym, and it codifies things that were previously ignored,” the SESP senior said. “It creates a recruitment process for senators that gets the best of the best.”
