The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened April 15 for the 28th session of the 55th senate.
Following the swearing in of new senators and associates, Bill #5549, “Maintaining Disabled Student Representation in the ASCSU Senate,” was revisited; Bill #5550, “Amendments to Funds Allocated by Lex #5423;” Bill #5554, “Renaming of the ASCSU Housing Caucus;” and Bill #5555, “Re-Establishment of the ASCSU Constitution Caucus,” were ratified during the consent agenda.
Dylan Mastrogiovanni, a current associate justice, was then nominated as chief justice of the ASCSU Supreme Court for the 2026-27 school year. According to the ASCSU Constitution, the incoming chief justice must be nominated by the outgoing ASCSU Student Body President within two weeks of the year’s election; the senate then must approve the nominee with a majority vote. After presenting, Q&A and discussion and debate, Mastrogiovanni was approved with unanimous consent.
During gallery input, over 15 speakers discussed recent experiences with discrimination and harassment from a student organization, Rams for Israel, which speakers said violates the Student Code of Conduct. Due to safety concerns, speakers requested anonymity and to cut audio and video off the senate’s livestream, alleging that the organization has doxxed and harassed CSU students.
Next, Jared McGlothlin, chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, gave a presentation on the senate budget process. ASCSU is expected to have similar funding to fiscal year 2026, meaning there will be little to no fee increases for the upcoming school year, McGlothlin said.
The upcoming budget for the 2026-27 school year is currently being prepared by president-elect Victoria Quesada-Stoner and vice president-elect Ben Gregg, McGlothlin said. Before the budget is approved, it goes through various means of feedback, including presenting the proposed budget to the SFRB, presenting it to the senate, holding public hearings for students to offer input and more. McGlothlin encouraged senators to reach out to constituents to voice their priorities and educate themselves on how the budget works.
“It is the responsibility of the senate to hold people accountable to the budget,” McGlothlin said. “We’re responsible for conducting oversight and making sure that people aren’t spending more than they should. That money is being used to better the lives of students on campus because, again, they’re the ones that are paying into this fund.”
The executive, legislative and judicial branches then gave their respective reports. During legislative reports, Speaker of the Senate Brooke Reese said she plans on removing the role of parliamentarian from senate, as it may be divided up into smaller positions so elements of the role are more effectively addressed.
Moving into new business, Bill #5556, “Amendments to Bill 5404 Authorizing Funding to Construct New Pocket Pantries,” was visited. The legislation aims to “reauthorize unspent funding to be used for the construction of a new pocket pantry, and extends the sunset date,” the bill reads. Under $9,000 from Bill #5404 remains and can be allocated to create a pocket pantry at the University Center for the Arts, McGlothlin said.
Following Q&A, the bill was sent to the University Affairs Committee for review
Bill #5557, “Funding the Proclamation Readings for APIDA and SWANA Heritage Month,” was visited. The bill aims to allocate $725 from the Senate Discretionary Fund to fund the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center’s Proclamation Reading event, where members of the Fort Collins City Council will be in attendance.
Following Q&A, the bill was sent to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Budgetary Affairs Committee for review.
ASCSU Senate will reconvene April 22.
Reach Chloe Rios at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
