A series of amendments that would have changed the way racial and ethnic minorities are represented within the Student Government Association came front and center during a five-hour special SGA session that spanned the Bush Student Center Ballrooms and Senate Chambers. At the end of the night, the bills were tabled indefinitely.

Around a hundred people came for the ballroom session, including SGA senators, Saint Louis University students, alumni and staff members. About a dozen non-Senate guests later followed the Senate upstairs for the remainder of the heated meeting.

The five senators who proposed the amendments said they sought a “driving vision of what senate should become, celebrating diversity.”

The legislation would have created two new vice president positions, a vice president for diversity and social justice and a vice president for international affairs. It would also have eliminated two current vice presidential positions and four senate positions. The two vice presidential spots that would have been removed were held by the president of the International Student Federation and the president of the Black Student Association, while the senate seats were held by members of BSA and ISF.

Senators where divided on the amendments, and especially intense controversy surrounded the removal of senate spots.

“If we eliminate senate seats, we are getting rid of international students’ rights, no one else understands international students as much,” said International Student Federation Sen. Angela Doumanian. “[International students] wouldn’t lose 100 percent of their representation, but they would miss out.”

Two of the biggest issues facing international students, according to Doumanian, are English proficiency and housing during the holidays.

“During winter and Thanksgiving breaks [international students] can’t always go home, and [residence] halls close,” said Sara Mohiuddin, ISF programming vice president. “We worked to keep Reinert Hall opened for Reinert international students.”

Arts and Sciences Sen. Sharronda Williams agreed with parts of the proposed changes.

“I agreed with how they fixed the executive board, but I think that to take the senators out would not make minority representation fair. Instead of taking away, they should add [minority senators],” said Williams.

Danny Laub stressed the point of legislation was making new opportunities for minority representation.

“Our main goal is to promote diversity. Creating a diversity committee should have be done a long time ago,” said Laub.

For some, the legislation has less to do with diversity and more to do with funding realities.

Though the long session resulted in only minimal changes to the amendments, SGA President Sam Howard thought it was a success.

“It’s not about issues, it’s about perspective. . [Before today] people thought they had made up their mind, but with all of these points brought up there was change.”

Before the meeting ended, SGA Parliamentarian Daniel Sims and BSA President Tamara Harris, two of the five authors of the amendments, had asked that their names be removed from them. Senators Laub, Andrew Miller and Kyle Benson said that they remain committed to revising the legislation.