The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming tackled a slew of contentious topics at its last meeting of the year on Tuesday in addition to an elected Board of Trustees, including campus concealed carry, programmatic fees and the relationship of ASUW to its strategic partners.
The Senate passed 10 bills in the four-hour long session and approved three budget realignments.
Senate Bill 2660, which discussed the implications of the recent concealed carry survey and offered a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, passed with only two dissenting votes. The bill affirms the student government’s stance that concealed firearms should not be allowed in residence halls, the UW Lab School, or at campus events that do not involve firearms.
“Our goal was to make sure that the voice of students was being heard,” said Sen. Dusten Strock, who spoke in favor of the bill. “We got a level of response to the survey that was unprecedented, at least in my time at the University of Wyoming, and we didn’t want to ignore that.”
While some members of the student body attended the meeting to speak out against the bill, alleging that it silenced conservative voices, the Senate concluded that those claims were unfounded and the resolution was representative of the will of the UW community.
Strock also authored a bill which thanked President Laurie Nichols for her service to the University and for her support of ASUW. Multiple other ASUW officials co-sponsored the bill. One of those sponsors, Sen. Benjamin Wetzel, argued that the bill was too critical of the Board of Trustees in their decision not to renew Nichols’ contract.
“This language seems needlessly provocative to me,” said Wetzel. “This bill should be about thanking President Nichols for her service, not about tearing down the Board of Trustees.”
Wetzel proposed an amendment removing the offending language and the Senate passed the amended bill unanimously.
In other business, the Senate passed a bill regarding the oversight of programmatic fees. Under the new regulation, a programmatic fee review committee made up of ASUW members will meet to give feedback on planned changes. This bill is a pet project of ASUW President Alex Mulhall.
“It’s a pretty hefty process to make sure that administration is using fees that are appropriate and not charging overestimated fees,” said Mulhall. “Moving forward, it’s going to be really important for us to review these fees and assess that they’re being used appropriately.”
ASUW also discussed two bills addressing the relationship it has with its strategic partners. The bills, which both passed, codify the procedures for creating a strategic partnership and outline the funding support for them.
Currently the only organizations that ASUW considers “strategic partners” are the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the College Panhellenic Council. IFC liaison Jake St. Marie stressed his concern over the bills.
“These bills are the most comprehensive pieces of legislation about strategic partners to date,” he said. “It’s important that we get things right now, so that we don’t have to go back and change everything later.”
A myriad of other bills also went before the Senate, including a change in ASUW regulations on students speaking in meetings, a bill which gives more students access to priority scheduling, and an update to the Travel Funding Table. For more information on these bills, other business discussed in the meeting, and general ASUW news, contact asuwgov@uwyo.eduor visit the ASUW office in the basement of the Wyoming Union.
