SGA Senate voted against a bill Tuesday that would grant provisional status as a campus organization to the Student Action Network.
SGA Vice President Tori Bray said the group exists to raise awareness of current issues.
“It is my understanding that the Student Action Network is a group that wants to raise awareness of current issues through various avenues, such as bringing speakers to campus, sustainability movements and possibly peaceful protests,” she said.
The group came to the Organizations Board hearing Feb. 12 to apply for provisional status.
Sen. Abby Jones, chair for Organizations Board, said Senate had questions about the group.
“There seemed to be a few ambiguous descriptions and events that I, as well as my colleagues, were unclear on,” she said.
Sen. Brandon Demyan said Senate had some concerns about the group.
“Basically, our concerns were the ramifications of having Auburn’s image possibly be tarnished,” he said.
Bray said although Student Action Network provided a list of events, Senate wanted more detail about what the group is planning to do.
“They gave a list of the events, but the list wasn’t described in detail,” she said.
She said Senate wanted to wait to pass the bill until it had a better understanding of the group.
“The senators felt that some of the group’s planned events were slightly ambiguous, and they did not feel comfortable passing a bill based upon inferences,” she said.
Bray said although many of the senators are new, she agrees with Senate’s decision.
“I commend them for not passing the bill,” she said. “This was their first time to ever pass legislation, and they’re still learning. It will take a couple times for them to get parliamentary procedure down pat.”
Bray also said the senators discussed the bill before making their decision.
“Debate hasn’t gone on like that in Senate in a long time, so that really shows that they care about their constituents,” she said.
She said the group will probably try again to obtain provisional status in the near future.
“It is very likely that this group will again go through the next Organizations Board meeting and return to the Senate floor with a representative from the organization present to clarify any looming questions,” Bray said.
Jones said she thinks the group will come to an Organizations Board hearing again.
“The organizations office has been in contact with the group leaders, and I hope to put the Student Action Network up for provisional status again in the near future,” she said.
