The SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage is set to go, as Senate approved a bill to fund $7,605 for a bus for the event during Tuesday’s meeting.
The bill, proposed last week by Meadows Sen. Emily Graham and African-American Sen. Lee Hinga, received only one nay vote, but was nevertheless met with debate and questions by senators.
The pilgrimage, sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain, occurs over spring break. Students are taken across the south to tour cities that played a crucial role in the civil rights movement.
Those who go on the trip pay $300, in addition to their food expenses. President R. Gerald Turner has donated $2,000 to cover museum fees, but the university covers no more than that. Without the $7,605 provided by Senate, the pilgrimage could not have been possible.
All the senators who spoke during debate praised the merits of the event, agreeing that it was beneficial to the SMU community. Some senators, however, were concerned as to why the university was not funding for more of the trip, especially since students have the option of gaining credit hours, thanks to a special course curriculum developed by the history department for last year’s trip.
Hinga emphasized that course credit was a peripheral issue, as the point of the trip was not for credit but for the experience. However, there remained questions as to why the university provided so little for the event.
“This is a great thing for the university, but the university needs to be more involved in funding this,” Dedman II Sen. Ben Hatch said. “The university should be more willing to fund this in the future, in case more fiscally conservative people like get on Senate and vote against it in the future.”
As debate was beginning to shift its focus from the bill itself to criticizing the university for not funding more, Student Body President Liz Healy intervened.
“It’s frustrating hearing how much debate there is over what the school should fund,” Healy said. “This is a perfect example of a student organization putting on an amazing program. It needs to be approved.”
The bill was approved with one nay vote.
Senate also approved three other bills and a resolution. A bill to fund $1,497 to the wellness department for Ping Pong tables, which received a positive recommendation of 7-6-0 from the finance committee to fund in full, was unanimously approved, as was a bill to fund $500 to the Perkins Student Association for the commissioning of a Perkins blessing song.
Additionally, the Leadership and Community Involvement Office will be able to host Academy Award nominee Alice Elliot and Larry Selman, the subject of her documentary, “The Collector of Bedford Street.” The Senate approved a bill to fund the office $2,491 for the event.
A resolution written by First-Year Sen. Matt Jensen urging the university to fund construction of a new fence around the South Quad pool was approved with some slight changes to the wording.
The trend of approvals during yesterday’s meeting continued throughout committee reports. Senate approved the finance committee’s positive recommendation to fund the Greek Life/Mustang Marathon Office $859 for a new printer and also approved the finance committee’s positive recommendation to fund the $1,867 requested by Panhellenic for expenses for Relay for Life.
As one club was removed from the chartering process, another was moved into it. The Senate approved the organizations committee’s recommendation to move the Wakeboarding Club, which currently has 40 active members, to probationary status. The recommendation to remove the Rotaract Club from the chartering process was also approved.
Applications to run for student body secretary are due by noon today. The Special Election begins at 11 p.m. tonight and will run until noon on Friday. All full-time students can vote online at www. smu.edu/elections.
