Violet JiraThe Associated Student Body Senate passed three pieces of legislation during their formal senate meeting Tuesday evening, one of them addressing the proposed changes to Mississippi’s state-aid, another addressing the inadequacy of the University Counseling Center’s resources for students on campus and a measure to instate an attendance policy for the ASB President’s cabinet.
Andy Flores, who has piloted @HelpSaveHELP, made an appearance as principal on inclusion and cross-cultural engagement. He, alongside other authors of Senate Resolution 21-12, presented legislation to the senate body that seeks to condemn the Mississippi Post-Secondary Board’s unanimous recommendation to replace current state aid programs with the Mississippi One Grant.
“There’s a lot at stake and very little time left,” Flores said, presenting the bill. “The HELP grant is in jeopardy. It’s our only public need-based aid program in the state.”
The Higher Education Legislative Plan grant covers the full amount of tuition for qualifying students and is one of three programs that may be eliminated, depending on Mississippi’s next legislative session.
“I want to stand in affirmation of this bill,” Senator Wake Monroe said. “What the state legislature is doing right now is unacceptable. They’re using the buzzword equality for the sake of equity.”
Monroe continued to explain his disapproval of the Post-Secondary Board’s recommendation, pointing to how the changes will put people’s education in jeopardy and disproportionately and negatively impact minorities.
Many other senators voiced their support for the resolution, agreeing that the loss of the program and the implementation of the Mississippi One Grant would be a mistake with far-reaching, negative consequences, leading to the resolution being passed unanimously.
Another resolution passed by the ASB Senate focused on the University Counseling Center — specifically, how its services have been compromised and underutilized due to an insufficient number of staff. Currently, there are 13 counselors, five of whom are graduate students. With COVID-19 placing more strain on the system, and a campus-wide population of 18,800 students, the bill calls for more accessibility and better quality.
“Students at the University of Mississippi do not feel adequately supported when it comes to mental health,” Senator Taylor Kelly said as she presented the bill. “The legislation that we are presenting today asks the university to acknowledge the problems that we see at the University Counseling Center and to adapt to better support everyone.”
This resolution, too, was overwhelmingly supported by senators. Pointing to two-week wait times and to a lack of minority counselors, many senators echoed the sentiments of the presenters, agreeing that something needs to be done. This resolution, too, was passed unanimously.
Senate Bill 21-19 was presented by senators Maddy Ryan and Wake Monroe, in addition to ASB President Morgan Atkins’ Chief of Staff, Ella Endorf. The bill updates the code to include an attendance policy for members of the president’s cabinet. All cabinet members — like senators — now have four unexcused absences throughout their term. Previously, there was no attendance policy for members of the cabinet.
In a win for students, ASB was also able to make tickets for men’s and women’s basketball games free again — previously, students were charged $7.
Additionally, the office of the ASB treasurer is moving to make changes to the Student Activities Fee. More on these proposed changes will be presented in the spring.
