Despite the failure of his proposal to reorganize student government, Student body president Pat Hallahan said he remains optimistic about the future of this resolution.
"It's very disappointing," said Hallahan after the meeting. "It was clear that the majority of Senators are for this resolution. ... I think it's going to get done."
But at the same time, Hallahan said that the Senate's vote Sunday wouldn't affect the report he is scheduled to present to the University's Board of Trustees on Thursday. Hallahan had said before Senate's action Sunday that his report would address student government issues in some manner.
"I think we're progressing on this, and I don't think it will affect [the report] too much. Hopefully by Wednesday we'll get something done, and I can report that to [the board]," he said. "I have no doubt that everything that we've been working toward with that resolution will come to be."
Hallahan supported this resolution because he believed it would facilitate better cooperation between groups within student government as well as make student government more efficient. Before the meeting, he talked with senators to answer their questions and try to get support for the resolution.
"I tried to talk to as many senators as I could over the last few days ... and I was able to get in touch with many of them," Hallahan said.
If the resolution had passed, it would have allowed four senators to sit on the Executive Cabinet, thus forming a body that would have representatives from every Student Government group called the Council of Representatives. Hallahan said he will still invite four Senators to come to today's Executive Cabinet meeting.
"I'm going to invite four Senators to come to [the meeting,] as the resolution would have mandated. We need to get to work," he said.
At the meeting, senators expressed concerns about the powers and goals of the proposed group.
They disagreed on allowing the new organization the sole power to amend the Constitution. Hallahan addressed these concerns after the meeting.
"I think some [senators] had concerns about what this group is going to look like," Hallahan said. "Hopefully at tomorrow's [Executive Cabinet] meeting, we will decide what needs to happen next, and we'll go back to Senate with that recommendation."
