The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government convened Tuesday night to discuss issues of gender inclusion and the promotion of the use of green books. The penultimate meeting of the seventh assembly centered most of its discussion on the upcoming CSG election, which will determine the newly elected representatives for next year’s assembly.
The meeting began with the reintroduction and the passing of various resolutions. These included a resolution to promote green books, a resolution to fund the remaining amount of the CSG AirBus deficit and a resolution to encourage gender-neutral language where appropriate.
The meeting then moved into executive communications, in which CSG executives delivered some of their final announcements to the current assembly. CSG president Anushka Sarkar, an LSA senior, confirmed the installation of Wi-Fi on the Diag, as well as a food distribution event being held this week in conjunction with the Food Access Task Force and Maize & Blue Cupboard. The issue of food insecurity is one that has been addressed throughout this year’s assembly, and is actively being combated by CSG, according to Sarkar.
“The importance of this event is that it supports the research that needs to be done about food insecurity on campus,” Sarkar said. “We want to de-stigmatize the event that’s happening.”
Additionally, numerous representatives in the assembly commented on the pervasiveness of the upcoming CSG election, in which students can begin voting on Wednesday. During the past months, issues arose regarding the election code and appropriate endorsement standards for the respective parties running, and they are continuing to be discussed while polls are open to students. LSA junior Seth Schostak informed the assembly of his efforts to determine what the students want to see in terms of changes made by CSG. Schostak told fellow representatives of the importance of listening to student concerns instead of simply counting them as a signature on a petition, which was met with applause and snaps from the assembly.
“Ask for input if you guys are campaigning,” Schostak said. “Don’t just try to get information out of people. Try to do something for them if they’re taking the time to talk to you.”
The assembly was then introduced to a new resolution, which will overhaul the operating procedures of the assembly. Due to the fact that a new assembly will be installed in the coming weeks, much of the conversation surrounding this resolution rested on the idea that a new assembly would be taking over responsibility for its passing.
The meeting concluded with comments and announcements from representatives, most referring to the election and remaining “clean” in their campaigns.
“I know a lot of people … are trying to get (endorsements) and are trying to rally votes, but just remember at the end of the day, it’s about the issues,” Kinesiology junior Okpalefe Edevbie said. “It’s what you’re going to do to serve the students.”