On Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, the Washburn Student Government Association returned triumphant for their weekly meeting in the Kansas Room of the Memorial Union after pulling off an incredible homecoming week.

Shayden Hanes, director of campus and community affairs, reported that the pieing of President Abby Trautman and Advisor Isiah Collier would be taking place after the meeting was wrapped up. This was in celebration of Washburn winning Can Emporia.

Ariel Smith, director of special events, reported that homecoming is now finished and was very successful, boasting high attendance at nearly every event. She has also been working on cleanup for homecoming which includes: returning golf carts, wrap up with student media and the announcement of the WSGA member who worked the most hours during homecoming week.

Wyatt Carter, director of communications and marketing, reported that there will be new WSGA apparel coming soon, and he requested that all members send him the size of shirt they would like. He also said that he has been working on the newsletter and has added a linktree to their instagram, which includes the open senate seat application and information about funding requests with more to come.

Megan Dorantes, director of diversity and inclusion, reported that the podcast recordings have been going smoothly, and they have now changed the podcast name to “The Bodcast” and have a new icon as well. She also shared that next week she would be giving a presentation about diversity and inclusion to the members of Alpha Phi.

Eric Rorstrom, director of budget, reported that he has sent payment to several parties involved in homecoming and reimbursed Gamma Phi Omega. He also announced that they had two funding requests to discuss during the meeting.

President Abby Trautman reported that she was incredibly thankful to everyone in WSGA for their help and support during homecoming week. She also announced that Shayden Hanes, one of WSGA’s nominees for Top Bod, won the title of Top Bod.

Katherine Cook, communications chairperson, reported that her committee’s meeting was very productive. They discussed more about what actions they could potentially take regarding suicide prevention, and the idea of contacting the suicide prevention counsel. It was also discussed that suicide prevention training could also be beneficial. Cook said that she has been getting in touch with people to further explore the healthiest social media practices, and is contemplating organizing an event on campus regarding the topic.

Public Forum I: Michelle White-Godinet, Washburn’s new director of equal opportunity, stood in front of the entirety of WSGA and introduced herself and her mission at the university. Dr. Eric Grospitch, vice president for student life, who was in attendance from the gallery, explained that as WSGA continues to tackle difficult subjects and provide resources for students, they would be working closely with White-Godinet.

SB 21-22 #057: Cameron Meseke Appointment, WSGA voted on appointing senate applicant Meseke to the WSGA Senate. Motion was passed and Meseke was sworn in by Dr. Grospitch, then allowed to join the senate.

“My ideology is that I want other people to continue going, for the things I never got to do,” Meseke said. “I really love working with people, and I really love building communities.”

SB 21-22 #058, Alpha Delta requested $500 of funding from WSGA for Casino Night Shirts for a semi-formal they will be attending along with a select few other greek life organizations. Motion was passed.

SB 21-22 #059, WSGA’s campus and community affairs requested $2000 of funding in order to supply giveaway prizes in celebration of success week. Motion was passed.

SR 21-22 #013, WSGA will raise awareness for “Movember,” a movement to support and recognize the struggles of men living with prostate cancer, testicular cancer, depression and many other physical and mental health conditions. The originator, Parliamentarian Zac Surritt, shared that he is very passionate about this topic and his personal effort will include attempting to grow a mustache to show solidarity.

“We’ve been talking a lot about counseling services and mental health resources on and off campus, and this ties directly into that. I think it’s very important that we really start to focus on how we can start helping our students in this way,” Surritt said.

SR 21-22 #014, WSGA felt that it was incredibly important to show their gratitude to Smith who planned, organized and ran all of the homecoming festivities. After six months of planning, her hard work absolutely paid off as the events were a huge hit and were very well attended.

SR 21-22 #015, WSGA wishes to honor Native American heritage month and celebrate Native American culture as well as recognize the crucial role they play in America.

Public Forum III: Homecoming, Smith takes her place at the podium and announces the winners of the competition for highest number of office hours during Homecoming week. The two honorable mentions were Senator Sierra Jeter and Senator Tevin Asmoah with 11.5 hours each. In third place, Senator Jack Yelland held 12 hours, Senator Brycen Labertew took second place with 14 hours, and the first place winner was Senator Micaella Jordan with an impressive total of 15.5 hours.

Roll Call: Due to his absence, the question to wrap up the meeting was: Where is Quinn Leffingwell, administrative assistant, at? The guesses included: somewhere petting a cat, outerspace, tweeting somewhere, vanished into the shadow realm, shopping for turtlenecks, in a state of depression, running from the law, in jail, night fishing, doing laundry, living on in the hearts of WSGA and according to President Trautman: not coming back after all of the ridiculous answers.