World Hijab Day
The Muslim Student Association came before SGA to request special funding for Mercer’s first World Hijab Day. The funding will supply MSA with 60 scarves to distribute in the CSC on February 1 to any students that might want to participate.
Students will have the opportunity to wear a hijab to class and around campus. This will be followed by a discussion panel at 6 p.m. in CSC 1. This event is celebrated annually all over the world.
Dr. Pearson, Dean of Students, said that although this may be a controversial idea, the advisor and organization “really thought this through” and the event has an educational aspect. The motion passed with a sweeping majority of ayes. This comes in the middle of the Muslims in America panel series.
New Senators Sworn in
Two freshmen joined SGA after elections last week. Senator Lillian (Perry) Hicks and Senator at Large, Catie Byrd were sworn in at the beginning of the meeting on Monday.
Tea and Coffee SocieTea
Sen. Loos moved to formally recognize the Tea and Coffee SocieTea as a student organization. This group is headed by a freshman and acted as an informal organization last semester. The purpose of the group is to share techniques and tastes in regards to coffee and tea. The SocieTea will meet Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Bears Necessities lounge.
[sidebar title="Upcoming Campus Events" align="right" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
February 1: World Hijab Day
February 3: Founders Day
February 16: Residence Life self-assign process begins
February 25-27: Beloved Community Symposium
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Campus Engagement narrowing focus
The Campus Engagement committee, headed by Sen. Scherf, has narrowed its focus to athletics, student diversity awareness, and SGA outreach. The committee joined with several other student organizations last week to surprise the women’s basketball team at their game against Chattanooga. There were 388 people in attendance.
Mercer Maniacs to reserve student seating
Mercer fans and students set a record for attendance at the Wofford game last week. Mercer Maniacs reported 4500 people were in attendance. It was standing room only 10 minutes into the game, causing many students to leave as soon as they walked in. Although Sen. Lewis said that it is exciting to see such participation, the Maniacs want to encourage students to come out to the games. They announced that the student section will be reserved specifically for students until the start of the game from now on.
ATL campus going tobacco-free
Mercer’s Atlanta campus will be going tobacco-free. In the survey sent out by SGA this past week, 70 percent of students are in favor of a tobacco-free campus. However, at this time the Macon campus will not be making any changes as smoking is not a major issue here.
Survey results
According to an SGA survey, 64 students are in favor of a standing squat rack, and 35 are opposed. An overwhelming majority of students prefer Chick-fil-a to be open earlier to serve breakfast. 29 percent of students want to keep parking procedures the same, while 19 percent want to change decals, and 15 percent believe parking should be prioritized by GPA. The survey also showed that on average, students perceive alcohol consumption on campus is a 2.9 out of 5.
Campus safety update
Sen. Buckner, Russell Vullo, and Dean Collins are planning to go on a second campus safety walk to ensure that their previous findings have been resolved.
Conference & Lodging requests
The Mercer Bearitones requested $650 for accommodations. Actual hotel list price was $630. The Bearitones asked for $20 extra to cover taxes and unforeseen costs. The motion passed unanimously.
Point BLANK requested $1944 for an upcoming competition. The motion passed with one abstain and one pass.
Psychology Club requested $2245. They asked for nearly half as much as their accommodations will actually cost because several of their participants received Mercer funding to present at the conference. The motion passed with one nay, and two passes.
Fresh Off the Docket
Two Freshmen were sworn in as SGA senators Monday night.
