SGA Approves New Name, Three New Clubs

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor

In their most recent meeting on Monday, the university’s Student Government Association (SGA) made several changes to their constitution, including a name change. Along with the change came the approving of three new clubs: the newest in a series of student organizations approved thus far.

The SGA Constitution had last been amended in 2021. It tends to be looked at every few years, to update it and add anything necessary. The SGA approved seven changes, including a change to the association’s official name. Previously, the name of the organization had read, “The Student Government Association of Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut.” Deemed a mouthful, the name has been changed to “The Student Government Association of Eastern Connecticut State University”, still colloquially known as the SGA.

Along with the name, other changes included procedural amendments to the roles of the SGA and its members, such as requiring them to be part of an external committee and setting the meeting time to be on Mondays at 3PM. Both were already the de-facto case, but were now written into the constitution.

An important change for clubs and organizations comes in the form of a new policy on appealing SGA decisions. If a new club is denied formation by SGA, they are allowed to come back after two weeks to appeal the decision. Two weeks was deemed sufficient for clubs to fix the issues preventing formation, and also to give SGA time to deal with other matters. 

The final major change concerned elections. Previously, two-thirds of the existing Senate seats filled were open for election. This was changed to have all Senate seats up in each election, in order to open up the Senate to the university community. Currently, there are sixteen Senate seats, each representing 200 students. Elections will be held in the Spring, although new Senators are also allowed to join by attending three meetings.

Along with the constitutional amendments, three new clubs were approved in the meeting. Costume & Cosplay Club celebrates cosplay’s value as an artform and a venue for creative expression, and will help students engage in cosplay and costume making in an affordable manner. Craft Club will similarly engage in arts-and-crafts style activities, and hinted at a potential ‘record-painting event’. Finally, First Generation Club seeks to provide a community space for first-generation students. All clubs in the university are open to the campus, meaning anyone can join.

Other new clubs approved by the SGA this semester have been Project Smile, a community-service based club focusing on dental health, and ESPS Club, a club focused on educating the community on careers in emergency-services and public safety. Mycology Club, a club about mushrooms, and M.A.L.E.S., a male brotherhood organization, were also re-activated this semester after a period of inactivity.

This semester has also seen the initial rollout of UPass, which the SGA approved last fall. UPass allows students to access any public transportation in Connecticut, such as trains and buses. Eastern students pay forty dollars each semester to pay for the pass. Students may pick up their UPasses by going to the Bursar’s Office, located on the second floor of Wood Services.

Disclaimer: Mathew Biadun serves on the SGA as Treasurer.