The following covers the meeting on Feb. 13.

Note: This week’s meeting was held in Northrup 318.

CLIMATE CHECK

The Senator emeritus Kara McLean, senior, asked about resident hall access for students living off-campus. McLean said that last semester, she was able to enter halls like Lightner Residence Hall with her TigerCard, but that as of two weeks ago, she and several others who live off-campus could no longer do so. Senator emeritus Amulya Deva, senior, recounted a discussion last year with David Tuttle, dean of students and SGA adviser, over residence hall access for off-campus students, recalling that it had been decided not to allow off-campus students access to residence halls. Adviser Jamie Thompson said that students living off-campus should not have had access to any residence halls, and that McLean’s access last semester may have been a mistake.

Sophomore senator Claire Carlson spoke for fellow sophomore senator Carson Bolding, who was not present, about tweets posted the night before by junior Kezia Nyarko. According to Carlson, Nyarko, member of the Black Student Union, had written that SGA was made up of students who are only involved in Greek life and who do not understand the work that goes into running a registered student organization (RSO). Carlson read a statement from Bolding, who said that SGA should not feel attacked by the tweets and that they should take this as an example of the disconnect between SGA and the rest of the student body, as well as work on initiatives to recruit a more diverse class of senators and cabinet for the next administration. Thompson inquired how many members of SGA were members of a Greek organization, and the majority of present members raised their hands. Senator emeritus Julia Shults said that this issue would be a good one for the new Public Relations committee. Junior senator Adelle Green suggested that SGA makes it more clear that RSO representatives are allowed to stay in SGA meetings while SGA members discuss and vote on an RSO’s funding request.

First-year senator Ben Falcon said that one student approached him and suggested they attempt to get an Amazon Locker on campus. Another student suggested to Falcon that they establish substance-free upperclassmen housing that is not themed, like the Swashbucklers.

RSO FUNDING REQUEST

Deva presented a request of $3,357.51 for TigerThon to fund their annual dance marathon event. Deva explained that TigerThon has already received $2,000 from the San Antonio Children’s Hospital and $300 from Trinity Diversity Connection for the event. Deva said that TigerThon anticipates receiving more donations, which means they will be able to return some of the funding from SGA, and that they are working to become a self-sufficient organization in the next couple years. SGA unanimously approved the amount of $3,357.51 after little discussion.

NEW COMMITTEES

President Ty Tinker, junior, outlined five new committees — the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Public Relations Committee, the Constitutional Review Committee, the Dining Committee and the Sustainability Committee. Senators and cabinet members volunteered to be involved in committees. Tinker then left the meeting to attend the President’s Dinner.

TITLE IX PRESENTATION

Shults presented on the search to find a new Title IX coordinator. Shults is a part of the search committee. The new coordinator would be in charge of things such as Title IX policy, coordinating complaint processes and identifying systematic problems with Trinity’s current programs. Shults said that the position would have a lot to do, as there are many proposed changes to Title IX currently under review. The four finalists for the position will hold individual public forums Feb. 18, 25, 26 and 28 at 7 p.m. The location is to be announced.

MOCK TRIAL

Senators discussed the request for funding that they had heard last week from the Mock Trial Club. Mock Trial had requested $2,340.68 for hotel rooms, parking, demonstratives, a timer and sticky notes for an upcoming competition in Houston. SGA unanimously approved the full amount of $2,340.68.