SGA: Sustainability fee, 'swag' elimination legislations pass in Senate
CMU senior Claire DeBlanc, left, and CMU junior Lauren Dey, right, lead a group of students Wednesday, Oct. 25 across the campus of Central Michigan University. Together they educated students on sustainable structures and areas throughout CMU. (CM-Life | Jo Kenoshmeg)
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was edited for clarifying the legislation proposed on the green fees as they do not relate to Central Sustainability funding. Additionally, the acronym FIRE was corrected to Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Two pieces of sustainability legislation passed unanimously through the senate at the Student Government Association meeting on March 25.
The bills were both proposed by Central Sustainability members Lauren Dey and Claire Deblanc, and both focused on funding issues within campus programming.
Dey introduced the first piece of legislation, which was a revamping of the previous "green fees" bill from Fall 2023. This bill would add a $5 semesterly fee to each student account that would be used to fund sustainability projects and efforts on campus.
She said the main reason they proposed the fee was because students want to see sustainability projects on campus, but there is no administrative funding for it.
Dey hopes passing this legislation and implementing the fee would prove to administration that students on campus care about sustainability efforts.
"We want to see physical changes on campus, and we can't do that without the money," Dey said. "I'm hoping this will open up doors to funding with administration as well."
In comparison to the previous version of the legislation introduced in November, the new bill comes addressing various accountability concerns. Some of these changes include:
- The fee costing $5 and occurring once per semester;
- More notice and opportunities for students to opt out of the fee via emails and professors announcements;
- Transparency about what projects funding is going towards (current ideas include further composting initiatives, gardening and pest management) through a public website;
- A committee of seven students who are unaffiliated with university administration and Central Sustainabilty. The Senate decided to amend part of the document to allow for one Central Sustainability member to be on this committee to represent and "provide their experience and expertise" on the subject.
"I origianally voted 'no' on this legislation last time because it seemed like there wasn't a sense of accountability," Christian Toney, the senate leader, said. "But now, I really love it, because it's pretty much putting it in the face of students and saying 'Hey, this is affecting your student account. Here's an opt out option' and that transparency is what I want."
Deblanc introduced the second piece of legislation, which focuses on eliminating "SWAG" items purchased with university funding for events. "SWAG" items were defined as disposable, one-time use items that students receive at events and throw away such as stickers and wristbands.
"We need to be intentional about what we're purchasing so that it's sustainable and that they money we're paying to the university is going towards things students are actually going to use and benefit from," she said.
Deblanc said that the bill would make it so any campus programs funded through the university, such as SGA or Student Activites and Involvement, would have to have any items they give out approved as a sustainable item.
Some criteria for an item to be sustainable are:
- Locally purchased
- Locally made
- Biodegradable items
- Recyclable items.
Deblanc said the decision and approval process for items would likely be accomplished internally by adding additional questions to already existing forms that registered student organizations and university programs fill out when creating an event.
Both bills will be introduced into the House at the next SGA meeting.
Freedom of expression for students
SGA discussed the implementation of a university freedom of expression statement that was first brought up at the Academic Senate's meeting March 19.
SGA Vice President Ryan Biller said that the discussion would continue next week, with university President Bob Davies and Academic Senate Chair Tracy Davis coming to discuss the freedom of expression statements. He also said students would be able to openly debate on the topic and decide which of the two to endorse and recommend for university administration to create policy around.
Biller gave members some background information on how the drafted statements came to be. He said that through a survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), it was found that Central Michigan University ranked 236 out of 248 when it came to freedom of expression. As a result, the Academic Senate created a committee to remedy this issue.
Now, that committee has drafted two different freedom of expression statements and are trying to decide between them. The writers for both of these statements, Scott Brestian and Josh Smith, spoke at the SGA meeting to educate members on the statements and what each one would mean for the university.
Brestian wrote his statement based on the Yale Principles, or the concept of freedom of expression creating community. He described his statement as being "more contextual" in that it talks more about a university being a community, and how freedom of expression can enhance that community.
"What kind of obligations do we take on when we enter a community and what kind of responsibilities do we have to other people?" he said. "While the Yale statement doesn't answer all these questions, it points out that this is a part of the necessary conversation, and that is part of freedom of expression."
Alternatively, Smith wrote his statement following the Chicago Principles, or a focus on the principles themselves. He said the concept of freedom of expression is abstract, but the Chicago statement is simple because it focuses on producing knowledge and sharing it, with very few limits besides those of the First Amendment and other university policies.
"We have to think carefully," Smith said. "If I want to be able to say this, what's the cost? Are other people allowed to say things that I disagree with? Because they might also disagree with me. That's the rough idea behind the Chicago Principles."
In Other Events:
- The Outreach and Engagement Committee received an update on their prizes for Hackathon. Ashley Harvey, the committee chair, said that the team who wins first place will receive $1,000 to spilt amongst team members. Additionally, Deblanc said their are four other $500 prizes being given out to teams (but these prizes cannot stack).
Additionally, three meals will be provided to participants through the event through CMU Dining, CMU Catering and Jimmy Johns. Students interesting in registering for this 24 hour, sustainability problem solving event can do so via Microsoft Forms.
- Cabinet member voting opens next week for all of the student body. SGA President Tyler Zimmerman said the voting will open at 8 a.m. on April 1 and close at 5 p.m. on April 5. He said students will be able to vote through Engage, and an announcement will be made in the Engage news panel to notify students they can vote. Results will release shortly after the election closes, but a date has not been determined yet.
