St. John’s University’s Student Government, Inc. (SGi) held its biweekly assembly meeting on Feb. 13, discussing recently signed bills and voicing their hopes for future semesters. The meeting began at 5:04 p.m. in Room B70 of St. Albert’s Hall.
President Ethan Burrell mentioned his hopes for allowing premium meal swipes to be donated between students, as part of a new initiative the executive board has been working on.
“We’re trying to see if you can donate premium swipes to students who are food insecure,” Burrell said. He aims for students with extra meal swipes to be able to donate swipes to other students, both resident and commuter, through a portal on their phones.
“We’re in the process of working that out,” Burrell said. “It would probably be implemented next year. Hopefully the next executive board will continue to work with them.”
SGi sends out monthly newsletters to all St. John’s students through their student emails, providing updates on past and current bills. This month’s newsletter provided information on three passed bills within the Student Senate in January 2023: Bill 5, Bill 6 and Bill 7.
Bill 5 — proposing an act to host workshops year-round to answer questions regarding taxes and credit scores for both international students and US citizens — was signed by Burrell. He said they’ll “try to aim for it next month.”
Burrell signed Bill 6 — proposing an act to update students on gym availability — and recently spoke with staff at the fitness center. The goal is to implement scanners, which detect body heat, that provide information on gym availability online. Burrell and SGi Secretary Julianna LoMonte viewed the scanners on Monday and will move on to contact the manufacturers for further information regarding pricing.
Bill 7 — proposing an act to add a ‘Campus Dining’ app to SJU SignOn, and update the website to include detailed nutrition information, Halal/Kosher availability and allergen information — is signed and underway. Burrell and SGi Speaker of the Senate Nawsin Kamal met with Chartwells Higher Ed and the University’s Director of Auxiliary Services Scott Limperle to move forward with the plan.
“This bill is going to move forward,” Burrell said. “They think it’s pretty simple to put the options on the website.”
For the first time this year, SGi shared a schedule of this semester’s upcoming assembly meetings via an Instagram post.
The next assembly meeting will be held on March 6 for 5 p.m. till 6 p.m.
