The Washburn Student Government Association convened for their meeting of the week in the Kansas Room on the upper floor of Memorial Union, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. WSGA meetings are every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and are open to all Washburn students.

Campus & Community Affairs Director Shayden Hanes reported that Washburn has won Can Emporia, and the pieing of Emporia’s Student Government is coming up shortly. She also reported that the public forum is being moved to next week.

Special Events Director Ariel Smith reported that Washburn’s Homecoming event will be coming up in two weeks, so start getting excited! She shared that Monday, Oct. 25th will be the Homecoming Ball, Tuesday the 26th will be Open Mic, Wednesday will be Scorch on the Porch, Thursday will be the Yell Like Hell Pep Rally, Friday will have After Hours in the Washburn AB room and Saturday will be the Homecoming Parade, Tailgate and Football game.

Communications & Marketing Director Carter reported that he recently posted on WSGA’s social media for breast cancer awareness, and has been keeping up with general emails and updates.

Megan Dorantes, diversity and inclusion director, reported that WSGA members now have name plates, but is disappointed to note that there are no pronouns on the name plates as of yet.

Budget Director Eric Rorstrom reported a few resolved budget requests for Black Student Union, Zeta Tau Alpha and Sigma Phi. He also said that the changes previously voted for have now been applied to the website and that there may be some additional questions on the dynamic forms.

SR 21-22 #009, The Washburn Student Government Association is planning to promote healthy and mindful social media practices and also will bring attention to the problem of cyberbullying and harassment that many people experience online. Ethan Nelson, senator and vice chairperson at WSGA, spearheaded this bill as part of his passion for psychology and the relationship between social media and mental health. Motion was passed.

“I ran for WSGA specifically for a position of trying to promote mental health awareness and better mental health for students through WSGA. That’s something that I care about a lot,” Nelson said.

SR 21-22 #010, The Washburn Student Government Association is making an effort to investigate whether Washburn holds investments related to or benefiting fossil fuel companies, and in the case that Washburn does hold such funds, WSGA will then recommend that Washburn divests these funds. Nelson explained that this topic needs more research and perhaps a change of hands, as he may have a conflict of interests. Motion was tabled indefinitely.

“They’re trying to discover if this is actually something Washburn is doing. Because I think it originated from a Harvard article and so we’re just making sure that’s not something that we’re doing at Washburn University,” Hanes said.

SB 21-22 #045, Kappa Sigma requested $1,850 of funding from WSGA for both decorations and the rental of costumes for use in the event ‘Yell Like Hell’ and the Homecoming parade. After a lengthy debate about whether rental costumes should be qualified as apparel, and if the regulations that their funding policies dictate should be applied to those rentals, it was eventually decided that rentals, as of right now, do not qualify as apparel and therefore may be funded over $500. It was implied that the definition of apparel or allowances made for rentals may be changed at a future date. Motion passed.

SB 21-22 #046, Low Brass Society requests $1,500 of funding from WSGA for their event Trombonopolis, an event open to the community to learn more about trombones in particular and music in general. Motion passed.

SB 21-22 #047, the sorority Delta Gamma requests $700 of funding from WSGA, Delta Gamma’s representative explained that most of their funding would be going towards supplies like wood, wood primer, and paint in preparation for their Homecoming float and decoration. Motion passed.

Senator Nelson then brought the room’s attention to a bill he had finished just past the deadline for the agenda’s send out. The Washburn Student Government Association is remembering those lost to COVID-19, and promoting healthy mourning practices in the interest of keeping students from becoming numb to their feelings. Motion passed.

Roll Call: What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Nearly no one in WSGA agreed on just one, but some popular answers were Wanna Burger?, In-N-Out, McDonald’s, Freddie’s and Sonic.

Edited by: Katrina Johnson, Ellie Walker, Kyle Manthe