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SGA hosts Town Hall, answers questions from U of M students

<p>The Student Government Association hosted a town hall meeting open to the public to discuss recent bills being passed and changes coming to the university. Students were able to ask questions on what they would like to see changed on campus.</p>
The Student Government Association hosted a town hall meeting open to the public to discuss recent bills being passed and changes coming to the university. Students were able to ask questions on what they would like to see changed on campus.

The University of Memphis Student Government Association hosted a Town Hall on Thursday in the University Center Senate Chamber. The meeting was open, and all students were welcome to attend to ask questions to SGA members.

Senior political science major and spokesperson of SGA Catie Blackwood led the meeting and updated the crowd on the bills that had been passed so far this semester. There have been several bills passed up to this point in the school year, but a few of them appeared to draw the most interest from the attendees.

The crosswalk resolution SGA passed allowed members to discuss installment of crosswalks with administration and the City of Memphis. Blackwood said SGA aims for the crosswalk resolution to be implemented as soon as possible, but they are unsure of the timeline.

“They passed it as a resolution, so they could send it to the city saying that students are requesting it and it is not just administration, so we will work on it, but there is no definitive timeline,” Blackwood said.

Printers and copiers will be installed in new locations throughout campus to give students greater access to them. Blackwood acknowledged the need for more availability of the amenities for students, so they will not have to wait in lines in the library or at the Technology Hub.

“We are looking to add more printers and copiers,” Blackwood said. “Some will be in Patterson Hall; some will be in the UC. We want students to have more of them.”

SGA has been working with Tiger Dining, and they passed a bill that enables open discussion with the Tiger Den staff for possible expansion of food selections. Blackwood said SGA’s goal is to give students a wider variety of options.

“We are looking for anything that students would like, and Tiger Den is open to any and all ideas, and Tiger Den has been doing the same thing for a while now,” Blackwood said. 

A panel at the front of the chamber that consisted of president Kevyanna Rawls, senator-at-large Margo Huber, senator and chair of the environmental committee Kyla Harris and Interfraternities Council senator and secretary of the finance committee Will Ritter. The panel had an open conversation with SGA and other attendees. This conversation took up the majority of the meeting, and students were welcome to express their questions, concerns or ideas.

This conversation was punctuated by topics of expanded accessibility to the health center, campus destigmatization of mental illness and more hours for the school’s shuttle service, the Blue Line.

The panel and attendees talked about these ideas in a lengthy but productive discussion. SGA said they hope to build upon these suggestions moving forward.

Rawls said SGA would try to take suggestions from the Town Hall and implement them into resolutions in future meetings.

“The Town Hall was created so we could hear direct student feedback, whereas the Senate meetings are so we can write legislation that backs it up,” Rawls said.

Rawls said Town Halls and Senate meetings are important and impactful.

“Town Halls and Senate meetings work together so we can make sure we are meeting the students’ needs and we are accomplishing what SGA sets out to accomplish,” Rawls said.

The Student Government Association hosted a town hall meeting open to the public to discuss recent bills being passed and changes coming to the university. Students were able to ask questions on what they would like to see changed on campus.


Student Government Association President Kevyanna Rawls talked about the recent bills being passed so students can have a better campus life. Rawls also took questions and answered students request about how campus life can be better for everyone.


Student Government Association Vice President Antonio Scott talked about the new passed bills and talked about how they will be beneficial to the students on campus. Most of the bills will be put into affect next year.  



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