The Associated Student Government (ASG) met for their weekly meeting where they discussed the topic of President Donald Trump’s immigration Executive Order.
Sarah Swedberg, a member of the faculty senate, presented a statement concerning Trump’s Executive Order in hopes to gain ASG’s support. This statement is intended to provide a sense of safety for students on campus.
“We were hoping that faculty, staff, and students could all make a strong statement,” Swedberg said. “One of the things that has come to my attention from faculty, students and staff is a real fear now that the immigration policy has changed.”
Minority Senator Kameron Paige voiced concern that students may be fearful, and encouraged ASG to reach out to its constituents.
“When it comes to fear, there’s two types of fear: there’s rational fear and irrational fear,” Paige said. “This is a very rational fear that students have.”
As Swedberg’s presentation was discussed, ASG decided that they intend to provide safety and comfort for all students on campus. However, putting out a statement is not the route ASG intends to take as of now.
Senator Jacob Reimer provided the analogy that releasing a statement is similar to the blue lights on campus. Both create a false sense of security.
“The statement that’s in front of us, and really any statement that we would issue, wouldn’t provide any more security onto this campus at all,” Reimer said.
Reimer determined it would be a better course of action for students to reach out to their congressional representative.
Furthermore, freshman Kelen Utu, an English major on campus, was appointed as a new Supreme Court Justice. Utu sees his new position as an opportunity to grow.
“I think this opportunity is a great opportunity to put my foot in the door and be able to understand what’s going on in the club,” Utu said.
Student Body President Ben Linzey expressed his excitement of having Utu as an addition to ASG.
“We felt that he would be a perfect fit for this position,” Linzey said. “He’s shown interest [in ASG] towards me personally for the past couple of months saying ‘Hey, how can I get involved?’, ‘How can I be a part of your organization?’ That interest in itself is really exciting for me. Especially coming from a freshman because he can be an individual that can be a part of this group for the next three years.”
Prior to being appointed, Utu was involved in keeping up with ASG updates, which added to his qualification for this position.
