Due to a reporting error, this story misstated the bill passed by Student Congress. If approved, the Graduate and Professional Student Federation president would appoint one delegate to the Association of Student Governments, and the fourth delegate will be approved by the student body president, Graduate and Professional Student Federation president and the speaker of Congress. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
A bill passed by Student Congress that would change who selects UNC’s delegation to the Association of Student Governments is now in the hands of Student Body President Jasmin Jones.
The bill proposes to change the delegation from the student body president and her three nominees to a group consisting of the student body president, the speaker of Congress, the Graduate and Professional Student Federation president and a fourth delegate approved by all three.
The UNC-system ASG meets monthly to discuss issues facing students in the 17-school system.
The bill narrowly passed Congress after much debate over graduate student representation.
Joe Levin-Manning, speaker of Student Congress, said he and Jones were elected by and represent the entire student body, and to give graduate students a delegate would give them undue representation.
“My issue with the way it is, quite frankly, is that it’s a difference in the balance of power. GPSF is not a legislative branch of government, and by giving them a representative, we kind of are short-changed,” he said. “It gives them more representation than is fair.”
But other representatives argued that Jones and Levin-Manning could not fully articulate the issues graduate students face to ASG.
“Everyone agreed that the power should not be resting entirely in the executive branch,” said graduate student representative Emily Danforth.
“People debated whether or not having the SBP being one of the delegates is sufficient in representing graduate students. In my opinion, it is not.”
Jones has until Sept. 29 to veto the bill, sign it or take no action at all, in which case the legislation would become law. Should she veto the bill, it is unlikely to gain the support needed to override it.
Jones said she is not necessarily opposed to the bill, but wants to discuss further the concept of graduate representation before making any decisions.
“I want to get an understanding of what is their interest in being a part of the organization and why they feel like it would be a benefit for them to participate,” she said. “I want to know where it’s all coming from.”
Without a decision made on the bill, Jones and her two nominees will attend the ASG meeting this weekend.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
