The Student Senate meeting commenced at 6:02 p.m. on Monday.

During the open forum, Mengcha Moua, Equity in Student Matter commission director, said the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Blugold Beginnings office spaces and programming have begun merging without his or the students’ prior knowledge.

“Conversations regarding that merge have been going on since October and OMA students are just now hearing about it,” Moua said.

According to Moua, students were not given an opportunity to provide input prior to the organizations merging.

“A lot of students feel betrayed because they weren’t kept in the loop or brought into the conversation earlier. I agree with them, I think students should have been kept in the loop since the beginning and not when plans were already made,” Moua also said.

Moua said that he and Jaden Mikoulinskii, Student Senate president, have begun writing a resolution to condemn the merging of the two organizations.

Mikoulinskii said if students have concerns about the merger, they should contact the university’s administration.

During the open forum, Elizabeth TenBarge, Academic Affairs commission director, said the commission is looking to fill a paid intern position.

Jim Dunning, District 18 County Supervisor, gave a presentation about the County Board. Dunning is running for re-election against multiple candidates, including UW-Eau Claire student Matthew Lehner.

Dunning said he was first elected in 2006 and has been the county supervisor for 16 years. His current campaign is focused on improving sustainability and transportation.

According to the Eau Claire County website, the spring election will be held on Tuesday, April 5.

Josh Holness, Chief of Staff, made a motion to withdraw Bill 65-B-8 to introduce a new version that includes all Internal Affairs committee revisions at the next meeting. The motion passed with a vote of 24-2-2.

Nick Johnson, Finance commission director, introduced Resolution 65-R-22  in support of the non-allocable segregated fee budget. The resolution passed with a vote of 25-0-2.

According to Bailey Carruthers, Intergovernmental Affairs commision director, the IGA produces a legislative priority summary every semester. Carruthers introduced Resolution 65-R-23, the spring 2022 legislative priority summary, which passed with a vote of 26-0-2.

Yoshi Gaitan, Communications commission director, was appointed to the Library Advisory board, Senator Thomas Miller was appointmented to the Blugold Code Conduct committee, Senator Ben Myszka was appointed to the Counseling Services committee and Senator Zach Weertz was appointed to the Alcohol Safety team.

Moua said the ESM commission’s Black History Month event, The Black Experience, will be co-hosted at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 27 in the Ojibwe Ballroom. 

Alex Stoll, mascot coordinator, is looking to hire two 5 feet 11 inches individuals to be Blu.

Carruthers said the IGA commission will not be meeting this week.

According to Brenden Hicks, Student Organizations commission director, the student segregated fees process begins this week.

The meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m. and will reconvene at 6:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28 in the Dakota Ballroom.

Kasper can be reached at [email protected].