SGA Senators voice mixed response toward recent Board of Governors actions

Danette Heredia | Staff Writer

FIU’s Student Senate recently passed on a resolution dedicated to their appreciation towards everyone involved in the journey of the university’s recent Preeminent award, but not without the defiance of senators who protested against thanking the Board of Governors in light of their recent actions. 

S.R. 05 002, ‘Committing to Excellence: FIU’s Preeminence’, is a resolution dedicated to the celebration of FIU and all the milestones the university has accomplished within the few years it has been established, establishing its commitment to continuing with the same high-quality education and student excellence. 

In June, FIU was awarded the prestigious title of a Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors, hence their mention of appreciation in S.R. 05 002.

“Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Student Body that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of FIU, the Provost, the Board of Trustees, the Florida Board of Governors, and other relevant stakeholders as a token of our congratulations and support,” says the conclusion of S.R. 05 002.

However, there was an error in SGA’s Agenda email where S.R. 05 002 was not attached, meaning that the majority of senates first time laying eyes on this resolution was only a few minutes before entering its voting session. 

After sending out the resolution at the last minute and concluding the Q&A session, there was hesitance from some senators on continuing into the voting session for S.R. 05 002, a resolution they barely had a chance to understand.

Voting continued due to the urgency behind getting this resolution passed, hoping to present  it to the Board of Trustees in time for the meeting scheduled only two days after. 

Although passing with majority vote, there still was a present defiance against this resolution and the boards it gives its thanks to. 

“They are also the same people planning on banning classes…classes like Sociology of Gender, classes like Anthropology of Race and Ethnicity, and faculty members are very vocal about the opposition to these decisions. I am not in the business of thanking them,” says SIPA senator James Hernandez. 

Other senators came to its defense explaining the importance of its message to students and faculty who have built the foundation of this university.

“The resolution is an opportunity to memorialize the hard work of our student body throughout the past several years. Any opportunity we have to celebrate FIU’s success is incredibly important for such a young university, we have achieved so much in so little amount of time,” says College of Law senator Noah Fineberg.

“If you look at past SGA’s, we have not been very supportive of the overall administration side of the university. I think it’s important to stop being so opposed to administration – we need to work more with them. We want to show our appreciation to be Panthers and to the university as a whole for the excellent work that they’re doing,” says Senate Speaker Alexander Stone.

Although the boards mentioned in S.R. 05 002 were under criticism, it passed, with a copy of the resolution being sent to said boards.