“We can be mentors, we can be tutors, (and) we can be involved in what’s going on and share our experiences with younger students so that they don’t make some of the same mistakes we may have made as young adults.”
– Clarence Frye, Non-Traditional Student Organization

Associated Student Government approved seven new student organizations at their meeting last Thursday, including Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), which was rescinded at the first meeting of the semester. BBBS is a non-profit organization that pairs children and teenagers with volunteers called “bigs” who spend time with them. The group was represented by Frank Cortez, senior recreation major.

The senate voted to recognize BBBS, 21-0-0.

President Brooke Schmidt made recommendations for two new senators at the meeting – Caleb Critchfield, senior elementary education major, and Samantha Beye, graduate student for school counseling, were sworn in. Critchfield was appointed as a senator for the Teachers College.

The senate moved to suspend the rules and move the recognition of BBBS and the Non-traditional Student Organization to general order, leading to a total of 14 bills on the agenda to be voted on.

Half of those bills were for the recognition of student organizations, including the Multicultural Greek Council, which was represented by its president, Doricka Menefee, junior secondary English education major.

“(The Multicultural Greek Council is) an umbrella organization for all the multicultural Greek letter organizations, so we would make sure all the organizations have taken care of their community service,” Menefee said. “We will be the voice to everything. So if you want to get into contact with any of our organizations, you can contact (us), and we can make sure you get the connection you need.”

Menefee said that there are currently three groups affiliated with the council and that she encourages any other multicultural groups that might start up in the surrounding area to join as well. The senate voted in favor of approving the group.

The Non-traditional Student Organization was represented by Clarence Frye, sophomore economics major and the vice president of the group. Frye said the group is designed to help unite the non-traditional students on ESU’s campus.

“We do intend to be involved in what’s going on on-campus, volunteer hours, all those kinds of things, and to be engaged in helping traditional students to continue their education,” Frye said. “We can be mentors, we can be tutors, (and) we can be involved in what’s going on and share our experiences with younger students so that they don’t make some of the same mistakes we may have made as young adults.”

Frye told the senate that the group has not had an official meeting yet and that he did not yet know exactly how many members were involved. The group was approved, 21-0-0.

Two bills for reserve fund requests by Sigma Rhomeo and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee were tabled due to lack of representation and will be on general order for the next meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Senate Chamber on the third floor of the Memorial Union.