The SGA student affairs vice president pushed lowering SGA’s minimum GPA requirement at the association’s omnibus Wednesday night.
The Student Government Association overhauled various parts of its constitution and bylaws in the semester’s final legislature meeting Wednesday night, but members opted to leave the minimum GPA to run for an SGA position alone.
In a 5-15-1 vote, an amendment to lower the GPA requirement from 2.5 to 2.0 did not pass, after about a 30-minute debate in which both sides passionately shared their views.
During the six-hour meeting, the student legislators spent most of their time revising, adding and removing amendments from their 60-page bylaws to make a fairer and more understandable set of rules.
SGA Student Affairs Vice President Josh Ratner fought unsuccessfully to lower the GPA, calling the current requirement unfair to students with disabilities and “a disservice to the community.” Ratner’s push for the amendment came after he was declared ineligible last week to run for SGA president because of a GPA below 2.5.
“[The SGA] is a group that needs to represent all students,” he said. “Certain mental health disabilities inherently affect your ability to achieve academically.”
The majority of the legislature, including Speaker of the Legislature Adam Janus, disagreed. Being a successful student is essential to the SGA, he said.
“Having a completely different GPA for those with disabilities stops them from reaching their full potential,” he said. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”
Ratner responded by saying he knew of at least three people in SGA who were unable to run because of GPA requirements, and the issue not only limits student inclusiveness, but also violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by limiting people based on their disabilities.
“Unless you’ve experienced a certain disability, I don’t think it is fair to dictate what success is to them,” Ratner said.
The SGA also considered requiring all SGA members to attend a sustainability presentation, but the legislation ultimately failed in a vote of 7-14-0.
While members Ryan Belcher, a junior government and politics major, and SGA President Samantha Zwerling stressed how conversation on sustainability could educate members, dissenters such as freshman representative Cole Holocker said the amendment would set an unwanted bias.
“We should not be telling representatives what to think on sustainability,” he said. “We would be doing a disservice to other committees by saying sustainability is more important.”
The SGA unanimously agreed to clear up a majority of its bylaws’ language and organization, moving most of the rules on student group finances out of the bylaws and into the financial manual. This will make understanding financial rules easier for student groups and the SGA, said Andrew Aggabao, financial affairs vice president.
The body also passed an amendment allowing SGA advisors to file a petition supported by 10 members.
Before the omnibus began, the legislature agreed to spend $2,500 on photos of the campus and $1,460 in support of Queer Camp, a student-run retreat for LGBTQ students, through Launch UMD, this university’s Kickstarter-like website that debuted this month.
The body also passed two bills supporting improving pedestrian safety and adding gender-neutral bathrooms to every academic building.
Zwerling said the meeting, which finished before midnight, was short compared to previous omnibus meetings because of meticulous preparation.
“We were able to hash out a lot of the issues in committees and work out the issues early,” she said, later calling the meeting a success.
