By: Jeff Engelhardt
Brandon Allen said the first half of Wednesday’s Undergraduate Student Government meeting went great.
The chance to listen to interim Chancellor Sam Goldman, Dean of Student Peter Gitau and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs was inspiring for the whole senate, Allen said.
The second half did not go as well as the second-year senator would have liked.
Allen, a sophomore senator representing the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, was caught in a debate with the rest of the senate about a dress code mandate written by freshman senator James Glogovsky.
The mandate stated all senators should wear professional attire the day of meetings to promote the organization. A debate ensued about what constituted professional attire and what Glogovsky thought would be a unanimous decision turned into a lengthy argument.
Allen, who was dressed in a suit and tie, said what senators wear should not take precedent over issues affecting students.
“I want everyone to know I disagree with any sort of dress code,” Allen said. “I dress professional when I come here, but it has nothing to do with what we are supposed to be accomplishing.”
Krystin McDermott, a senator representing Greek Row, asked Glogovsky what constituted business casual. The two were unable to come to a common definition until USG Vice President Vincent Hardy offered an explanation.
After the group came to a decision as to what clothes would be acceptable, the next debate began about what was meant by the phrase ”the day of meetings.” Senators wanted to make sure the professional attire would only be mandatory for the meetings and not throughout the whole day.
After the senate and Glogovsky agreed to change the phrase to “the meeting,” a vote was ready to take place. One senator dissented the motion, so the senate performed a written vote.
Once the government counted out the vote, President Chiquita Watts and Student Trustee Demetrious White informed the senate it could not vote on a mandate since there was no original amendment in the constitution.
Glogovsky argued he wrote his mandate as an amendment, but Hardy had no choice but to table the issue until the next USG meeting.
Allen said senators should not to be afraid about disagreeing with one another.
“Government is supposed to be a compromise between differing opinions,” Allen said. “We don’t want to end up like Bush and his flunkies.”
For more on the USG meeting check out siuDE.com
