Written by Juston Lewis, Asst. Sports Editor

Growth and stagnation, the weekly SGA meeting featured both.

The start of the weekly meeting seemed promising as two new senators were voted in almost unanimously.

Clinesha Sims, a sophomore psychology major, was approved as well as D’Layna Jonas, a sophomore psychology major and Spanish minor.

The two senators were excited to join SGA and excited for the different things they can bring to the table for students.

“This will be the first step towards making a difference and getting SGA’s name and faces out there and make us accessible,” Sims said.

Jonas feels that maybe she can inspire or encourage other students to join SGA through her.

“Anyone who would like to be in SGA can be,” Jonas said.

After they were confirmed, the agenda moved to the fund appropriation request for next year.

SGA is requesting $19,673, which is more than $10,000 less than the original request from a year ago. There was a short discussion breaking down why the funding was different this year, and it can be drawn to the new chamber of finance.

The majority of the meeting was spent discussing a new bill that would change the rules regarding senators taking a leave of absence.

The bill was drafted in the wake of Silas David returning to SGA after his leave of absence.

It was presented by Sen. Amea Thompson and Sen. Jacob Bell, and while they said they were not targeting Sen. David in the proposal, it did come a week after his return.

The bill suspends senators from presenting bills for one meeting after returning from a leave of absence.

It also gives senators the option of notifying the vice president of Student Affairs or an executive board member of their choosing when they need to take a leave of absence. However,

it requires them to submit written notification to the secretary prior to taking the leave for documentation purposes.

The discussion of this bill went on for more than an hour before the senators came to a consensus.

The meeting was heated by discussion of David’s return from his hiatus.

David took offense to the bill and went into detail explaining the reason for his leave.

Other senators tried to reassure him that it was not directed at him, and Sen. Matthew Rowe suggested the bill be tabled, but it was combated by Sen. Jalah Morris and Sen. Joy Ihedioha saying it would still have to be addressed at the next meeting.

Once all the senators got their points across, they voted, and it finally passed.

SGA President Maya Mapp said she felt like the discussion should have been a lot shorter, and they weren’t helping students but was proud of the progress SGA has made under her leadership.

“I feel like SGA still has a long way to go, especially when it comes to servicing the students,” Mapp said. “With the two ladies that we added tonight and the senators that we’ve added, we have the right people in the senate . . . I think it will continue to grow and diversify. I’m very happy with it, but we have a long way to go.”

She also encouraged the discussions that they have. She said she thought it strengthens SGA as a whole.

“I encourage the challenges that they have together because I think it makes them stronger.”

The main focus of SGA is making sure the foundation of SGA is stable under the new constitution.

“You can’t serve something that isn’t built on the right foundation,” Mapp said.