Concealed carry on Ohio University’s campuses will continue to be the topic of discussion in Student Senate at the meeting Wednesday.
Student Senate President Hannah Clouser expects the discussion at the meeting to be more eventful than it was last week.
“This is a place to share your opinions,” Clouser said. “We encourage students to come out and share their opinion on conceal carry on campus with the senate body and other students who may be there listening.”
The discussion at the meeting Wednesday will serve as a continuation of an open forum senate held Tuesday night that focused on concealed carry.
“There will be rules in place to keep things efficient, but we anticipate it being relatively big,” Clouser said. “We’re just going to allow an hour for discussion, with each person giving their stance for 90 seconds.”
The referendum, the first in the senate’s history, was created to provide the Board of Trustees ultimately with insight on students’ opinions about concealed carry. Voting will occur Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, and the results will be announced at the senate's Jan. 25 meeting.
The senate’s stance on concealed carry will be developed based on the majority of a possible 100 votes in the referendum. Fifty students have to vote for their votes to count toward the student section of the vote.
If at least 50 students vote, 50 votes will be proportional to the total student votes, and 50 votes will be from senate itself.
“I definitely think we spent a lot of time over the past week making sure students knew the referendum was coming next Monday and inviting them to give feedback over social media and over this debate,” Student Senate Vice President Courteney Muhl said. “Wednesday’s meeting gives a chance to hear what students have been thinking, and I’m feeling excited to host a forum to hear that civil discourse.”
The body will vote on a resolution to pay for the Ohio Student Government Summit conference.
Clouser and Chief of Staff Landen Lama said the resolution is expected to pass.
“We went (to the conference) last year, and the people that went said it was pretty effective,” Clouser said.
The Budget Committee unanimously approved a $228.72 budget for registration, car rental and mileage to attend the conference. Senate will vote on whether to implement that budget.
“All senators know how important it is to attend conferences,” Lama said.
