USC's student senate passed one piece of legislation, tabled two others and appointed six senators at its weekly meeting on Wednesday.
The passed legislation was a resolution serving as a follow up to a bill the senate passed last term.
Senator Tyler Morgan, who introduced the legislation, said the resolution is urging the university administration to expedite the implementation of SBL 115 (31). The bill recommended that statues of prominent figures in the history of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina get placed back into the reading room of the South Caroliniana library.
"I know for a fact that I put (in the previous bill) that the process get underway preferably no later then the start of this academic school year, and to my knowledge, there's been radio silence on the administration's end as far as getting back to us with a hard yes or a hard no," Morgan said.
Morgan said it was agreed upon by the senate when the original bill passed, the responsibility would turn over to university administration. The administration would decide which busts go back to the reading room.
"Those busts were present prior to the library's six-year renovation, which was completed last year," Morgan said. "Unfortunately, those busts are nowhere to be found, but we do know that the university does indeed have them."
The resolution passed unanimously.
Two bills were tabled during the senate session. The first bill was introduced by the finance committee. The resolution is to help increase operating capacity.
The bill allows student organizations to request funding from the Student Government on a rolling basis throughout the fiscal year, provided they meet specific criteria. This includes attending a Treasurer’s Workshop, submitting requests on time via Garnet Gate and staying within the $10,000 spending limit.
Organizations must also provide accurate cost estimates and attend a finance dialogue if requests exceed $6,000, with a comptroller authorized to make edits to the requests under certain conditions.
Chairman William Wenzel said many people talked to the finance committee and there were new hesitations with the new financial reform.
"We want to make sure we do our due diligence, understand what an actual cap should mean financially," Wenzel said. "We're going to table (the bill) for now and readdress the issue whenever we have more data."
Wenzel said the main reason the bill was tabled is that when it was reviewed by the internal committee, many people had questions about the finance committee taking their time with the new process reform.
"Last term, we did a huge reform with the current allocation process, and with that, that cap for dialogue is going to change from 500 to 1,000 (dollars)," Wenzel said. "They just were really concerned about us doing our due diligence to make sure we set that cap at the right spot."
The bill was tabled indefinitely after a voice vote.
The other tabled bill was a resolution to applaud Theta Delta Chi Fraternity for their internal reforms as they seek to have their sanctions re-evaluated.
USC suspended the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity chapter until Fall 2026 after investigations into internal conduct violations.
According to a previous article by The Daily Gamecock, the university investigated Theta Delta Chi following a report of alleged hazing in September 2022. The investigation revealed issues with inappropriate activities during the new member education process. The fraternity was already under conduct probation until November 2022, due to hazing and other violations from a previous incident in November 2021.
Senator Morgan, who introduced the bill, said the fraternity has been removed from campus and sanctioned by the university in the fall of 2022. He said he met with the individuals in leadership and learned that they are truly invested in turning over a new leaf.
"I've known these people before they rushed that fraternity. These are good people. They wouldn't lie to me," Morgan said. "They informed me basically that they've always upheld a policy ... of if you feel uncomfortable with doing something, you will not be obliged to do it. That's their story, they stick to it and I stand by that."
After an extensive debate amongst the body, Senator Caleb Geddens motioned to table the resolution.The resolution was tabled indefinitely by a voice vote.
Taylor Silkert, Kailey Goodrich, Marian Winters, Hannah Hoppe, Muhammad Iftikar and Jeffrey Lyons were sworn in as new senators to the 116th student senate.
Second-year computer science student Muhammad Iftikar joined the finance, student life and sustainability committees during the session. He said he joined student senate because he wanted to advocate for greater student inclusivity and issues that matter in student government.
"Sitting here for the first time is leadership experience in and of itself ... asking questions and seeing how all of this works," Iftikar said. "I'm currently a part of the sustainability committee, and that's close to my heart. I'd like to say I'm an environmental activist. Climate change is an existential threat and we have to face it."
Second-year political science student Jeffrey Lyons said he joined the senate to represent the student body and make a difference on campus.
"Last year I was a part of the freshman council," Lyons said. "Seeing how student government did make a difference on campus through the initiatives and things that senate passed under the leadership of Emmie Thompson. Some of the things with Wi-Fi and parking improved. I just want to be in an organization that has been making a difference."
Senator Carson Neeves was removed from the 116th student senate due to an attendance policy violation.
After a voice vote, the senator was officially removed and no longer a member of the 116th student senate. Senator Camden Kaye, who motioned to remove Neeves from the body, said his removal was procedural and nothing other than that.
"We have a responsibility to ensure that attendance is maintained from senators; chairmen are held to technically a higher standard than other senators," Kaye said. "I know Chairmen Neeves. That was not a fun motion that had to be made. He's incredibly busy, he was dealing with some personal issues, and so this was something that he wasn't able to devote his time to. We understand that. But we also can't have a member of the body unable to attend every week, at least without a very, very valid excuse."
The student senate meets every Wednesday in the Russell House Theater at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is open to all students who wish to attend.