Throughout the past few weeks, Change Caucus has accused the Gator Caucus of attempting to delay Senate leadership elections and reclaim a Senate majority with a perceived filibuster, quorum bust and resurrection of the retired Liberation Caucus.
Political turmoil in the UF Student Senate persists as the chamber failed to meet quorum Tuesday evening due to the absence of almost all Gator Caucus members. The seven-minute Senate meeting resulted in the delaying of Senate leadership elections for a second week.
The 94 senators at the chamber’s first meeting after Spring Break were supposed to elect a new Senate president, Senate pro-tempore and two members at large, per the Rules and Procedures of the Student Senate. This comes after the Change Caucus secured a majority in Spring elections.
Besides validating the Spring SG election results and hearing the speeches of outgoing senators, the chamber passed six pieces of legislation during the four-and-a-half-hour March 7 meeting.
More than 12,400 students voted in Student Government elections Feb. 28 and March 1, resulting in a Gator Party executive ticket win and Change Party Senate majority.
Gator won the executive ticket with Olivia Green as president, Clara Calavia as vice president and Nyla Pierre as treasurer. In the Senate, Change won 30 seats, Gator won 19 and a non-party affiliated write-in candidate won a seat as well.
Thousands of UF students lined up across on-campus polling locations Tuesday for the first day of the Spring Student Government elections.
UF Student Government Spring elections begin Feb. 28, where the executive branch seats — student body president, vice president and treasurer — along with 50 Senate seats are on the line after a contentious campaign cycle between Gator Party and Change Party.
With less than a week until the Spring elections, Gator and Change party’s executive tickets sparred over student organization funding, graduate student resources and 24/7 library services in the Student Government debate Tuesday.
Student Government senators approved two resolutions condemning antisemitism and political encroachment and a new Change Caucus minority party leader was appointed during the Feb. 7 meeting’s 29 minutes.
UF students will elect a new student body president, vice president and treasurer, and 50 new senators representing various academic colleges during the Student Government Spring elections between Feb. 28 and March 1.
Pamela Bingham visited her alma mater Thursday as part of the Black Student Union’s 2023 Black History Month program, speaking to a group of BSU students in the Reitz Auditorium.
With no legislation on the docket, public comments concerning student organization funding and executive branch efforts consumed the Jan. 31 Student Government Senate meeting.
UF’s student government announced on Instagram Jan. 13 that Marston Library would reinstate 24-hour services after spring break with funding secured through Provost Joe Glover. However, details of the deal reveal the provost agreed to fund the initiative only for the remainder of the Spring and Fall 2023 semesters for a pilot study that’ll collect data on overnight hour usage to inform future funding decisions.
On the docket: a resolution to make discriminatory acts an official violation of the Orange Book Conduct Codes, an amendment to remove gendered language from the UF Student Body Constitution and a revision to the 300 Codes, which outline the rules of the legislative branch, to turn Town Hall events into moderated forums, all passed without debate.
Jan. 17 Senate meeting addressed an amendment that would remove gendered language from the Constitution, a resolution to recognize and promote the Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate Campaign event combatting antisemitism and a revision to the 300 Codes, which outline the rules of the legislative branch, to change Town Hall events from open to moderated forums, all passed without debate.
While the library used to operate on a 24-hour schedule, the COVID-19 pandemic paused those hours indefinitely, leaving many students wondering whether they would return. Newell Hall has been the only 24-hour study space for students since Fall 2021.
The Ad Hoc Committee was formed to provide a platform for representatives of student organizations to express their concerns and ask committee members about the funding process.
The meeting recapped the work of the Transition Cabinet, which aids non-traditional students in their transition to UF, and announced an upcoming forum of the Student Funding Ad Hoc Committee, which will address funding concerns.
The Online Voting Constitutional Amendment, authored by Sen. Oscar Santiago Perez (Change-District D) and Sen. Jonathan C. Stephens (Change-District D), would provide all UF students with a secure, online and remote voting option for SG elections. If passed in the Senate, the amendment would be on the Spring election ballot for students to vote on.
Solutions by The State News
