On Wednesday, Jan. 14, SLU’s Student Government Association’s (SGA) student Senate convened for the first session of the semester. Senators provided funding for upcoming A Cappella competitions, a speaker series and seated a new committee chair.
The Senate provided a total of $851.20 of spot funding to Astha A Cappella, a co-ed group that sings Indian Fusion music with mixtures of Eastern and Western influences. The funding will be used to attend the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella at Missouri State University on Feb. 14. The two top performing competitors will move on to the ICCA Midwest Semifinal.
Additionally, Astha A Cappella will attend Spartan Sitara at Michigan State University, an Association of South Asian A Cappella competition. This competition spans three days, including more social activities and giving students the opportunity to showcase diverse music.
“In ASA we do carnatic, sangeetham or we use different languages within India. We do Hindi songs, we do Tamil songs, and it’s a way to represent all our culture. We also blend that with English songs, French songs,” said Meghana Gangireddy, Astha A Capella’s Logistics Captain.
Both competitions were approved for funding in votes of 36-0-0.
Spot funding enables student organizations to participate in organization-specific competitions, conferences or other ventures that align with their overall mission. Once organizations have the total costs of their selected event, they may apply for spot funding. If their application is approved, SGA covers half of the total cost and the organization raises funds to cover the rest.
The Senate provided Saint Louis Athletic Training Society with $800 of wellness funding to host an Athletic Training Speaker Series. This was approved with a vote of 36-0-0.
SLATS works with the Athletic Training Program annually to host this speaker series. This year, the topic is Wearable Technology Application in Clinical Decision-Making, Human Performance and Wellness. They have invited Dhruv Seshadri, a professor of bioengineering at Lehigh University, to speak.
Wellness funding is distributed to individuals or organizations to hold events designed to enhance student wellness through the exploration of new ideas, promotion of healthy habits, encouragement of social interaction and overall embracement of the Jesuit mission.
The Senate seated Emma Ku as the Chair of the Sustainability Committee. Ku is a first-year student and will lead SusCo in collaboration with SLU organizations and departments to provide feedback on environmental issues and sustainable practices. This motion passed with a vote of 36-0-0.
In addition to the bills, the Senate heard several announcements, including a special business presentation from VP Richa Kulkarni and VP Lucy Billadeau about Chartered Student Organization Rights.
CSO applications can be denied for several legitimate reasons, including if the organization already exists, there is not enough demonstrated interest, the organization needs permission from other departments first or it would be better supported elsewhere on campus.
Upcoming events include the Winter Involvement Fair on Jan. 28 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Wool Ballroom, Oath Week, which includes many events hosted by the Diversity and Leadership Cabinet to celebrate SLU’s Oath of Inclusion, from Feb. 2 to 6 and SGA’s annual funding kick-off on Feb. 15.
