Wednesday, the first Student Government Association meeting of the new year provided a stark contrast to last year’s final meeting.

The issue of minority representation that extended the previous SGA session past the four-hour mark was quickly taken off the agenda by the bill’s authors to allow for more preparation.

Following an opening prayer, SGA President Sam Howard gave her State of the Association speech. Her speech focused on what she said is the important work done by the Senate that does not always result in immediate change.

Calling back to her ticket’s slogan, Howard assured senators that they are “A Voice for Progress” through their work on long-term projects both completed and in progress such as the Simon Recreation Center, the green initiative and 24 hour library hours. She also asked senators to look back on how they had addressed constituent concerns.

Howard ended her speech with a call to campus involvement for SGA members. Two representatives of Student Financial Services made presentations to SGA. The first was on the new financial aid service on their website, which provides videos on financial aid in several languages.

The second was a plea to provide support and encourage awareness of potential legislative threats to Access Missouri, which provides funding to Missouri Students attending Missouri colleges and universities.

Arts and Sciences Senator Grant Farnsworth was seated as the chair of the Constitutional committee and Emily DeCenso replaced Samantha Affram on the election committee for the coming SGA elections. Both women are Arts and Sciences seniors.