By Christina Smith

The Student Government Association (SGA) pushed to pass two pieces of interesting legislation at Tuesday’s Senate Meeting. One proposal concerning the possibility of optional co-ed housing passed unanimously. The second piece, a resolution for a possible SGA delegate entrance exam to be added to the SGA Constitution, was tabled for next week’s meeting. Two other pieces of legislation were also passed.

Sen. Lukas Miedreich and Sen. Kayliegh Tompkins wrote the co-ed housing resolution in an attempt to expand the housing opportunities on campus. According to their resolution, because most college students are over the age of 18, they are considered adults and should be able to choose their own living arrangements.

Two points on the proposal specifically pointed to how the current policy restricted students. One read “some members of the LGBTQ community are not comfortable living with the same sex,” and another pointed out that under the current policy “it is possible for same-sex couples to live together,” but this is impossible for heterosexual couples.

During a question-and-answer session with the entire Senate, Meidreich explained that following approval from the SGA, the proposal would be presented to the Office of Residential programs for further action. Vice President Jared Berry pointed out that no SGA senators had attempted this legislation previously.

Also during the question-and-answer session, Meidreich clarified that co-ed rooms, if finalized, will be by request only and students would not get placed into co-ed rooms automatically. The proposal passed unanimously, with no opposition or debate.

Sen. Robin Doublebower wrote the tabled piece of legislation, in which she resolved that “a short entrance exam shall be administered to all delegates” who have completed the constitutional requirements prior to election to the Senate.

If passed, the exam will contain 25 mutiple-choice questions based on information from the Constitution, the Policy Series and basic parliamentary procedure. Each exam will be different, and the 25 questions on the exams will be rotated from a master list of 150 questions. Delegates must pass the exam with an 80 percent, at least 20 questions, and will be allowed to take the exam as many times as possible.

According to Doublebower, is this legislation is passed it will expedite the transition process from delegate to senator.

“Senate can function better if everyone who joins [as a senator] hits the ground running,” Doublebower said. “[An entrance exam] will speed up the process of Senate altogether.”

Doublebower motioned to table the legislation herself, and argued that she wanted the to make sure the largest amount of senators were there to hear the proposal.

“Everyone’s voices should be heard in passing this legislation,” she said. Also, a two-thirds vote was required to pass legislation, and the Senate did not have that number at the meeting.

Doublebower also expressed her concern over the fact that some senators feel she is being an elitist. “This legislation is not exclusionary,” Doublebower said. “It will just help to outline what is important for delegates to know from the Constitution.” She added that parliamentary procedure will be more thoroughly observed by participants during the delegation period.

The Senate will vote on this legislation at next week’s meeting.