The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened Sept. 6 for the third session of the 53rd senate.
The session began with a presentation from youth civic engagement organization New Era Colorado, which works to encourage political participation among young voters.
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Former ASCSU speaker pro tempore and current Northern Colorado regional lead organizer for New Era Colorado Kimberly Carracedo spoke at length with senate on New Era Colorado’s ongoing efforts to build political interest between ages 18-25, her experience with civic involvement and upcoming voter registration events held by New Era Colorado.
Carracedo also emphasized the importance the youth demographic has on local, state and federal politics and urged senate to continue acting in the best interest of young people in the Fort Collins and CSU communities.
“Being bold and being young and being passionate is part of this collegiate experience,” Carracedo said.
Senate then moved into executive reports, when Director of Environmental Affairs Haydyn Deason, Chief of State Ayla Sirois, Director of Traditions and Programs Meron Siyoum, President Nick DeSalvo, Vice President Alex Silverhart, Business and Community Liaison Isabel Henry, Director of Governmental Affairs Michael Stella, Deputy Director of Housing Security Evan Welch and Chief of Staff Braxton Dietz updated senate on executive matters, including upcoming Student Sustainability Center events, tailgate planning, efforts to increase student representation in Fort Collins City Council, developments regarding the dismantling of the U+2 residential ordinance, the recent success of the ASCSU blood drive, Student Fee Review Board meetings, Legislative Strategic Advisory Board initiatives and voter registration events.
Moving into confidence business, senate moved forward with the election of the retention and recruitment officer.
The retention and recruitment officer is responsible for building interest and engagement among the CSU student body for ASCSU initiatives, events and processes, ideally leading to the recruitment of new ASCSU members.
Adrian Salazar, Gilbert Leal, and Mia Ritter were nominated for the position.
By way of a majority vote, Ritter, a former senator and committee chair, was elected the next retention and recruitment officer.
“I think it’s really important, with the experience I’ve had the past few years, to share that with students,” Ritter said.
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Senate then considered Resolution #5302, Approval of the Second Version of the 53rd Bylaws.
The legislation makes further clarifying edits to the 53rd senate’s bylaws designed to improve the visibility and accessibility of the document for senate members.
The resolution will be sent to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Internal Affairs Committee.
Bill #53XX was also considered to conclude the session.
The legislation seeks an extension of the Accessibility Caucus’ working period in an effort to maximize the capabilities of the caucus and ensure its goals are met.
The caucus was originally intended to operate over the summer to repair broken door buttons across campus, but due to caucus member unavailability and scheduling conflicts, the legislative authors claimed more time is needed to adequately act upon the caucus’ proposed initiative.
The bill will be sent to the DEI and Internal Affairs committees.
ASCSU senate will resume Sept. 13.
Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.
