Wednesday night’s Ohio University Student Senate meeting featured topics ranging from incident reporting to the impact senate has made in the past to the World Series.
The body heard presentations from Sara Trower, executive director of Civil Rights Compliance and Title IX coordinator, and Greg Moore, a Student Senate alumnus. Members also voted on two budget resolutions.
Trower spoke about the process of reporting harassment and discrimination. Her office’s goal of creating “One OHIO” was also discussed, which is focused on creating a discrimination- and harassment-free community.
“That’s not really something that an office can do,” Trower said after her presentation. “That’s something that has to be done by all members of the community. So anytime we can talk with and enlist people in terms of shared values, ... that only furthers our ability to succeed in our mission.”
Senate President Hannah Clouser said after the meeting it was nice to hear from Trower, and she can imagine having a follow-up meeting with her and other members of senate.
The body also heard stories of how Student Senate affected OU in the past. Moore encouraged senate members to make a difference on campus, as well as at the state and national level.
“There's a lot of incivility going on in our political process right now,” Moore said. “Take advantage of all your important titles.”
Clouser said she would “love” to see alumni come back and speak every year.
“I think it’s good to kinda plant that seed and let people know that what they’re doing really makes a difference,” she said after the meeting. “I think it’s also fun to just hear about things that had an impact in the past.”
Beyond the presentations, the body passed a budget resolution to fund a Residence Life event and tabled a resolution to pay for the DVD of Freedom Writers to be screened. The resolution was tabled because senate would need to pay for screening rights, Clouser said.
The meeting was cut slightly shorter as Clouser, a Cleveland Indians fan, choose to forego her president’s report and vowed to email it to the body Thursday instead so members could get out earlier to watch Game 7 of the World Series.
