In the first Student Government meeting since Student Body President Ruben Becerra Jr.’s Feb. 4 resignation, new environmental legislation was introduced and student concerns about the legitimacy of Student Government were voiced.
Vice President Alison Castillo, who recently dropped out of the 2019-20 Student Government race due to staffing controversies, was acting president and Senate Pro Tempore Keely Freund was acting vice president for the meeting. With Becerra’s resignation, these cabinet changes will be made permanent for the remainder of the term, though the date for Castillo and Freund’s swearing-in has not yet been announced.
Only one piece of legislation was introduced during the meeting, and it described a cleaning technique meant to use Student Government resources to assist in environmental protection. This would be a new method to alleviate pollution in San Marcos through Plogging, an initiative promoting jogging while picking up litter.
Freund publicly encouraged senators to write and introduce more legislation in an effort to better fulfill senators’ duties.
A concerned student utilized the seldom-used public forum portion to voice concerns about the tumultuous politics of Student Government.
Marshall Watts, political science sophomore, is a transfer student and noticed the uncharacteristically high turnover in Student Government and its damage to the organization supposed to be representative of the student body.
Resignations of former presidents, senators and cabinet members, as well as other Student Government controversies in recent years, gave Watts a reason to Student Government has led to a negative perception of Texas State as a whole.
“But simultaneously, because I had this idea that (Student Government) was doing its job well; I didn’t pay attention,” Watts said. “I pick up a newspaper that says, ‘There’s a resignation and there are allegations,’ and the integrity of the school as a whole is being questioned by me now because of these incidents and that makes me question why I’m here.”
Student Government meets at 7 p.m. every Monday in the LBJ Teaching Theater.