Student Senate met Wednesday to discuss ways to connect more with the Ohio University Athletic Department, more specifically student-athletes.
The senate heard a presentation from Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development and Inclusion Tia Jameson, which included concerns about the lack of campus involvement from student-athletes.
“I think that there is initially a large disconnect from our student-athletes to campus,” Jameson said. “That is not your fault, that is not our fault, that is just what it is. We need to figure out how do we merge those worlds.”
Within her presentation, Jameson also shared with the senate several organizations that student-athletes have started and are currently involved with.
One of the organizations is Bobcats Lead Change, which started after the death of George Floyd to promote unity and justice for Black students on campus and within the community.
Barbershop Talk, another student-athlete organization, provides a space for student-athletes and coaches to talk about anything.
Several ideas were mentioned by both Jameson and the senate to bring student-athletes and the student senate together.
Among the ideas discussed are sharing and reposting content from the senate and athletic social media pages to spread awareness of each other’s events and collaborating on some events, including an upcoming blood drive.
“I feel like it would be great for our department, for us, to partner together … for a blood drive,” Jameson said. “I'm not just expecting you all to give blood. I want you all to go and tell your friends, your classmates, your roommates, all of the above.”
Another way the senate addressed collaboration is its search for an athletic senator within its University Life Commission in the senate.
Senate PR Director Kylie Christa said she has even created a flyer for Jameson to send to all OU student-athletes in hopes of filling the position.
“You can get that out to your athletes ... so they know that position's available to help bridge the gap a little bit,” Christa said to Jameson about the flyer.
Aside from the presentation, the senate also passed several resolutions, which included the appointing of multiple associate justices and one executive justice to the senate's judicial panel as well as a new Women’s Affairs Commissioner.
Other pieces of legislation on senate’s agenda included tabled budget resolutions that will be discussed during the next meeting due to the primary sponsor being absent.
Treasurer Reagan Farmer requested members speak with her after the meeting if the commission's budget resolution had been tabled, in order to discuss the matter further.
