Student Government encourages new ideas
While a new senator was appointed to the Student Senate and a coordinator position was adopted, there was tension at the start of Wednesday’s meeting.
Senator Jeremiah Revere stood before the senate in an open forum as a “student, not a senator,” he said, and spoke about an “incident of censorship” he experienced last week.
During vacancy elections for Residential Life, Revere asked a question as to why a prospective senator chose to attend Minnesota State. The question was struck down by Speaker Douglas Roberts to, Roberts said, avoid personal bias which could lead to discrimination.
“Universities … have been at the epicenter of open debate, challenging beliefs, and the nurturing of new ideals,” Revere said. “The fear of diverging opinions could be strangling the very foundation of academic institutions.”
Senator Revere left shortly after his statement.
President Sierra Roiger said in a statement, “We don’t want or go out of our way to censor anybody, but rather we want to make sure that we aren’t discriminating against anyone for any reason. We are an organization that supports raising student concerns, student issues and student voices, so long as it doesn’t put down other students or risk discriminating others.”
Roiger said she encourages students to express their concerns in a respectful manner.
“At the end of the day, our hope would be that anyone who’s got an issue or concern about anything happening, that they reach out to us via email, a phone call or stopping in the office so that we can work together to find solutions,” Roiger said.
Non-traditional student Emily Dittrich was elected to campus as an off-campus senator. Dittrich said her wisdom from being a non-traditional student and her perspective from being a student with disabilities would bring a lot to the table.
“I think I could bring a … a perspective that maybe some of the students here haven’t had the opportunity to explore yet,” Dittrich said. “I feel like I represent several different sectors of the student body.”
Dittrich said she wants to make an impact on students who are not involved in the Senate.
“I want to make sure that I’m bringing up issues that the senators here may not already know about by using my voice to further advocate for them,” Dittrich said.
There is one vacancy for Reslife and two off-campus senators.
Header photo: Emily Dittrich was sworn in as the new Off-Campus Senator Wednesday. Dittrich said she could bring several perspectives to the table. (Nathanael Tilahun/The Reporter)
Write to Emma Johnson at emma.johnson.5@mnsu.edu