Two senators announced their resignation, a new Senate Pro Tempore was elected, articles of impeachment were read and legislation was introduced and passed Monday night during the weekly Student Government meeting.
Sen. Spencer Lewis and Meghan Busby announced their resignations Monday; Lewis’ during a public forum period and Busby’s following the meeting closure. Lewis compared Student Government to a cesspool and the Mueller investigation of President Donald Trump during his public resignation. Busby cited the continued controversy within Student Government as the reason for her resignation.
Sen. James Tichy and Monica Mendez were both nominated for Senate Pro Tempore in order to fill one of many new positions due to Ruben Becerra’s Feb. 4 resignation. Tichy was elected by the Senate as the Pro Tempore for the remainder of the spring semester.
Legislation was read to impeach chief of staff Matthew Gonzales for violations of the code of ethics to maintain truthfulness, honesty and not to compromise any of this for personal gain including the withholding of information from the office of the executive cabinet to secure a position during his campaign. On Feb. 5, Gonzales and acting President Alison Castillo dropped out of the 2019-20 race before the articles of impeachment were officially introduced or read.
Legislation passed after being introduced and read during the previous meeting for an initiative to promote Plogging, a way to protect the environment in San Marcos from litter. The legislation was authored by acting Vice President Keely Freund along with Senator and 2019-20 presidential candidate Tucker Thompson.
Thompson was confirmed as the director of Student Services after legislation was introduced and read by Senator Leela Rao. According to Rao, this makes Thompson a member of the cabinet for the remainder of this term with his new focus being on student resources from the university.
Two pieces of legislation were introduced to create on-campus housing options and accommodations for non-binary, transgender and LGBTQIA students. The main goals through these pieces aim to work between Student Government and the Department of Housing and Residential Life to focus on these issues, create a Queer Learning-Living Community within one of the residence halls, expand the gender identity options students can register for on-campus housing, provide LGBTQIA-ally housing options for those who have undergone Texas State Ally Training and expand those trainings to incoming freshmen during Bobcat Preview.
Extra-tuition cost deductions, mental health awareness and community outreach were also presented by Castillo and Castillo as new goals for this term Monday night following their meeting with the Texas State University System board of regents.
Student Government meets at 7 p.m. every Monday in the LBJ Teaching Theater.