The student senate has failed to meet quorum continuously all semester, with this being the seventh week in a row with quorum not being met. There were 10 senators at the meeting.  

Despite this, Ashton Pietzmen, a junior physical and environmental geography major, was sworn in at the meeting, meaning that there is an overall 12 of 15 senators needed to meet quorum. The student senate needs three more senators to meet quorum for the semester to vote on things such as registered student organizations [RSOs], while also giving their advide on budgets and other topics.  

Student Government elections have been moved back one week. The new elections are April 3 and 4, according to President Lucy Ade.  

 For those interested in Student Action Team, SAT, according to Executive Vice President Connor Mellott, interviews have been extended an extra week and will end March 31. There are posters with bar codes around campus for those interested in interviewing or finding out more information about student lobbying and what the SAT entails.  

Students that are part of SAT will get to travel to Springfield, Illinois to lobby for Eastern students and more.  

There will be a home-run bingo from April 10 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Grand Ballroom. President David Glassman will be calling the bingo, and this will be his last bingo event of his presidency.  

There will be a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Week through the Diversity Action Council (DAC) which the student government’s student affairs committee is hosting. Brianna Hull-Dennis, the vice president for student affairs, has partnered with a variety of student organizations for these events throughout the week.  

The events being hosted are Smashing Hate and Diversity in Action Council Tabeling, an event where you write hateful things on a tile and smash it; this takes place March 27 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the Mellin Steps.  

Another event there will be a global bowling night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the bowling alley March 28. 

An intersectionality talk from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on March 29 in the MLK University Ballroom. 

DEIU trivia in the Thomas Hall lobby from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 30 and a Taste of EIU in the Doudna Concourse from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Doudna Concourse will take place.  

All of these events are free to students and are a partnership between student government, housing and dining, residence hall association, Black Student Union and EIU Diversity Action Council.  

There will be a ‘Behind the scenes of SGA’ that will occur on March 26 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. prior to the meeting. There will be a raffle for prizes as well as refreshments including drinks and popcorn. 

Those interested can learn more about student government by attending followed by watching the meeting. Those interested in attending but that cannot make it can reach out to senate speaker Karolina Guzek at ktguzek@eiu.edu.   

In the coming weeks, student government will be partnering with other organizations, such as University Board, on large events such as Panther Bash. At the event, there will be yard games, food, free t-shirts and more. The event takes place April 15.  

Katja Benz can be reached at kkbenz@eiu.edu.