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This week in ASCSU: Senate holds emergency session to pass pending legislation

Laila Shekarchian, Staff Reporter

March 10, 2025

Collegian | Cait Mckinzie

Dozens of students fill the senate chamber of the Associated Students of Colorado State University to share their experiences and listen to others’ statements about the impact CSU’s Cultural Resource Centers have had on them Feb. 19.

The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened March 6 for an emergency session of the 54th senate.

To begin the session, members of the legislative branch provided updates on their respective work and duties.

Moving into old business, senate confirmed Resolution #5407, “Asking CSU Administration for More Accountability and Transparency.” The legislation calls on CSU administration to be more transparent with students in response to events that took place during the 2024 fall semester. Additionally, it calls for the university to take accountability and action to support the student body.

Following discussion and debate, the resolution was passed by unanimous consent.

Senate then moved to Bill #5409, “Increased Funding to Rams Against Hunger Pocket Pantries.” The bill aims to allocate $18,000 from the ASCSU General Discretionary Fund to provide funding for the Rams Against Hunger Pocket Pantry Program for the 2025-26 academic year.

Following discussion and debate, the bill passed by unanimous consent.

Senate then moved to discuss Lex #5416, “Ensuring More Students are Represented.” The lex aims to increase the number of senate seats available in each academic college in an effort to bolster student representation within ASCSU.

The lex was approved by unanimous consent and sent to the Budgetary Affairs Committee for further review.

Next, senate discussed Resolution #5409, “Student Protection Act.” The legislation calls on CSU administration to codify protections for marginalized students given recent policy shifts created by the federal government.

Following discussion and debate, the resolution passed by unanimous consent.

Senate then discussed Lex #5417, “Creation of the At-Large Representative Student Council.” The lex aims to create an at-large student representative council for student representatives to continue serving under ASCSU in the event that their constituencies are dissolved.

Following discussion and debate, the lex was approved by unanimous consent and sent to the University Affairs Committee for further review.

Next, Resolution #5410, “Supporting Student Coalition Letters Concerning DEI on Campus,” was confirmed. The legislation supports the student letter of solidarity written by the CSU Coalition for Race, Gender and Ethnic Studies and a similar letter written by The People United. Both letters were sent to CSU administration to support diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives on campus.

The legislation was passed by unanimous consent following discussion and debate.

Resolution #5408, “Supporting Immigrant Students,” was then confirmed.

The legislation calls on CSU administration, the Board of Governors and the State of Colorado to support all students at CSU and “affirms ASCSU’s support of immigrant students in face of growing crackdowns.”

Following floor edits and discussion and debate, the resolution passed by unanimous consent.

Lastly, Lex #5415, “Removing Old Language and an Inconsistency with Associate Senator Limitations,” was confirmed. The lex aims to adjust wording in the ASCSU constitution and ensure that more students are represented within ASCSU.

Following discussion and debate, the lex passed by unanimous consent.

ASCSU Senate will resume March 12.

Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.

About the Contributor

Cait Mckinzie, Photo Director

Cait Mckinzie is a second-year student double majoring in art and journalism and media communication. She is one of two photo directors for the 2024-25 school year. Despite growing up in Renton, Washington, Mckinzie knew she wanted to go to Colorado State University since middle school. She had only ever been to Colorado twice, but she visited campus once, and that was all it took. At first, there wasn’t much in Fort Collins that Mckinzie was familiar with. But in high school, she was the co-head of visuals for her school newspaper, so she applied to The Collegian as a photographer to get back into a similar environment. Mckinzie was first introduced to photography by her grandfather, who has been a photographer most of his life. After he gifted Mckinzie her first camera in her junior year of high school, she began to take any assignment she could for her high school paper to improve her skills. Of all the memories made in her first year at CSU, most of the interesting ones came from The Collegian. One Halloween drag show assignment, a lot of mentorship and a few months of practice later, Mckinzie found herself being offered the position of photo director for the next academic school year. Mckinzie is excited for another year at The Collegian and aims to continue learning and growing during her time as one of the photo directors.

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