The Associated Student Government Senate announced a pilot program of a new discretionary fund aimed at supporting legislation Wednesday.
Medill junior and ASG co-President John Sisco said the pilot program is a way to get funding for specific legislation.
“One issue you might have noticed if you’ve tried to pass legislation in the past is that moving forward often requires the assistance either of administration or a part of the ASG executive branch,” Sisco said.
Currently, ASG does not have a specific pool for legislation, Sisco said, and this program will test the idea of a discretionary fund that senators can use to support their passed legislation.
Sisco said the budget still has to be approved during Funding Senate, which allocates money to student organizations, including ASG.
The Senate also elected Weinberg junior Abigail Melaku as Student Org Whip during its meeting.
In her speech to the Senate before the election, Melaku emphasized that as Whip, she wants to help “bridge the gap” between the student organizations that have a seat in the Senate and those that don’t.
“There’s a ton of orgs on campus that don’t have a seat in Senate either, and I think their voice is equally as important,” Melaku said.
The Student Org Whip position received no nominations last week. Two people accepted their nominations this week: Weinberg junior Hunter Gracey, who represents NU College Republicans, and Melaku, who represents the Undergraduate Prison Education Partnership.
Speaker of the Senate and Weinberg junior Nur Yalinbas said the Student Org Whip will “ensure that many student organizations and communities represented here have a strong, coordinated voice.”
Later in the meeting, SESP junior and ASG Director of Community Relations Noah Cohrs talked about ASG implementing bi-weekly town hall meetings.
Cohrs said ASG is trying to bridge the disconnect between the student body and ASG.
“Any student can come to share a grievance, hear an idea, talk about something they would like different in this university and talk about that in a space with people who are in ASG and can make that change,” Cohrs said.
Towards the end of the meeting, senators split up into groups to discuss their ideas for legislation.
SESP first-year and For Members Only representative Amaad Garrett proposed legislation to implement a True Northwestern Dialogue module focused on diversity for students during Wildcat Welcome.
“Maybe a panel or something with students showcasing what an ideal campus environment would be like, something that’s more inclusive,” Garrett said. “Dialogue that doesn’t reflect the pretentious or microaggressive behavior that a lot of our peers tend to have.”
ASG senators also discussed legislation centered on gender-neutral housing on campus.
Weinberg senior and GREEN House representative Rocco Cappelletti said they want to look at how many gender-neutral housing and bathroom options are currently available, as well as the price point of those locations.
Cappelletti said they noticed a trend of gender-neutral housing existing primarily within more expensive dorms.
“We were considering if there was any way, if we can’t get a specific place, more options to be available at different price points for students to make it more accessible,” Cappelletti said.
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