At its Sept. 14 meeting, the Student Government Association voted to approve changes to the SGA constitution and bylaws. The changes were publicized to the student body on Sept. 18. 

After communicating with The Slate staff and students who expressed concerns about the proposed amendment, SGA President Harun Pacavar sent an email to the student body Sept. 22 announcing that the changes would not be moving forward in their current state. 

The Sept. 18 email said that the changes would be voted on alongside the fall 2023 SGA election, but it was decided to reverse that decision. In the second email, Pacavar wrote the reversal was meant to “provide more opportunity for student feedback at a public meeting.” 

SGA will “take a few weeks to make changes, seek input from others and will then move the Constitution forward again,” Pacavar wrote. Any constitutional amendments require a majority vote from the student senate before it is given to the student body, again requiring a majority vote to be approved. 

The SGA constitution was first adopted in 1962 and has gone through 20 revisions since. If the changes were to move forward, it would be the fifth amendment in as many years and 21st overall. 

The changes in the proposed draft included a shift in SGA’s meeting schedule. Currently, SGA meets every week in a private internal caucus meeting and holds a formal meeting every two weeks open to the student body and public. 

The amended constitution would have required the student senate to meet publicly only once a month and meet in caucus only twice a month. If SGA followed these minimum requirements, it would cut the number of meetings, both public and private, in half compared to the current schedule. 

One of the more controversial changes would have been to the role of the student trustee. Currently, the constitution permits the student trustee to serve as a non-voting, ex-officio member of SGA at the request of the university president. They are not required to attend meetings and cannot be penalized for absence from them.

Traditionally, the student trustee has attended most SGA meetings, including private caucuses and officer meetings. The current student trustee — Rangeline DeJesus — has not been attending meetings due to scheduling conflicts.

The amended language removed the section qualifying the trustee’s involvement to be at the request of the president as well as the section stating they cannot be penalized for absences. The changes would effectively require the trustee to attend some meetings regardless of their thoughts, or the president’s thoughts, on the matter. 

SGA’s authority to do this, however, would be on shaky grounds. The student trustee is not a member of SGA and is therefore not bound by its constitution and membership requirements. Whereas SGA officers and senators are elected by students, the position of student trustee is appointed by the Pennsylvania governor after recommendation from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors. 

DeJesus, who was appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf last year, was not informed of any changes by SGA before the proposed amendments were made public. Pacavar told The Slate staff that “these changes were made with all of the current trustees’ input from last year.” 

After concerns were raised, Pacavar told The Slate staff via email that the new requirements would not be enforced until after DeJesus’s tenure ended. However, this stipulation was not included in the proposed amendment and seems to have been decided upon after DeJesus raised concerns. 

Five committees were eliminated in the draft, including Academic Affairs, Information Technology, Student Life, Sustainability and Campus Safety and Facilities. 

The Sustainability and Student Life committees are recent additions to SGA’s structure, being formed in the 2020 and 2021 revisions, respectively. Because of the instability within SGA, few committees met last year. Those that did meet produced very little action, much of which faced backlash from the student body, such as the contentious 2023–2024 Budget. 

Campus Safety and Facilities was another committee eliminated. One of its responsibilities is performing campus safety walks to assess repairs to lighting, sidewalks, and other facilities. Pacavar told The Slate staff that some of the committee’s responsibilities would be assumed by the Vice President of External Affairs, who is responsible for promoting SGA to the student body. 

There are internal changes, too. One of the governing documents of SGA, the “Three-Strikes Policy,” which has the purpose of providing SGA “a clear, well-defined, disciplinary action policy,” has been replaced with a “Commitment Pledge.” The details of the pledge are unclear. 

Pacavar declined a request to share the document, reasoning that it “is a governing document that is internal and thus will not be shared.” After a second request for the document as a matter of transparency, Pacavar told The Slate staff that the document “does only pertain to each senator’s commitment to SGA so there isn’t a reason for others to view it.”

Currently, SGA is required to hold a retreat at the beginning of each semester for its members. These events are used to onboard new senators, give an introduction to procedure and serve as a bonding event for the group. The amendment would trim that to once per academic year. 

Pacavar explained that to counteract the loss of the retreat, SGA would hold “mini sessions during caucus and around caucus to bring new members into the group.”

SGA formal meetings are posted on CampusGroups and are open to the public. Students are encouraged to attend and speak during public comment.

Share