The Undergraduate Student Government passed legislation on transgender use of bathrooms in and around residence halls this past Monday, which could begin a process of implementation within the next semester.
Two weeks ago, Multi-cultural Greek Council senator Paige Reinhart-Anez proposed this legislation, which stated that the University “(would) formally support trans students being able to utilize the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity not only in residence halls, but across Bowling Green State University.”
With 24 yes votes, one no and one abstaining, the legislation passed through the USG senate floor.
“I wasn’t sure (if it would pass),” said Reinhart-Anez. “I think last week there was a lot of concern about student safety, but bringing statistics helped.”
Reinhart-Anez said that the next steps for the legislation is to reach out to Residence Life and organizations on campus that would influence policy change, along with leading panels and focus groups.
“I want to make sure this will be sustainable since I’m graduating this year,” she said.
USG President Victor Senn said that seeing legislation like this was important to the growth of the University community.
“I think this a great resolution to make BG a more accessible and inclusive place,” he said. “The arguments that were raised just shows that the senate was taking it back to their constituents and talking about it the past two weeks.”
President Senn said that he looks forward to opening up a conversation about future legislation in and around the state.
“We’re the next steps,” he said. “We’re the people that are going to make it happen.”
Director of Student Safety Amanda Dortch and Arts and Sciences Senator Richard Racette officially announced their campaign for the 2016-2017 USG presidencies this morning.
Dortch and Racette have been serving together in USG for three years, and have been friends before they were enrolled.
“Two months before I was at Bowling Green, we were talking about USG,” Racette said. “The whole summer we were gearing up to join USG.”
The running pair hopes to focus on empowering students to hold a voice within and out of the senate room.
“We want to be the voice of the students, but also empower the voice of the students,” Dortch said. “I think the big idea is all about service, and knowing that we are there for them and we are providing the things they need.”
Racette said they want to cater to students “no matter what their identity.”
“We want to access non-traditional students, traditional students, military students, etc, in our campaign,” he said.
Dortch and Racette also want their campaign to be an advertisement and an awareness campaign for USG to let students know that USG can be a resource for them.
The senate hosted Vice Provost of Strategic Enrollment Planning Cecilia Castellano, who provided information on future enrollment and retention goals for the upcoming semesters.
In Fall 2015, enrollment was up 12 percent with a class average GPA and ACT test score of 3.36 and 22.6, respectively.
The international enrollment was up 4.2 percent this past fall and transfer students increased by 4 percent.
In Fall of 2016, the University hopes to draw in 3,500 freshman along with 700 transfers. Spring 2016 numbers reported that there is a 50 transfer student increase.
