Kennesaw State University may become the first public university in Georgia to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium after the Student Government Association voted on Dec. 4, endorsing the affiliation.
According to their website, the WRC is an independent, international organization dedicated to monitoring labor rights and working conditions, especially in the clothing industry. The initiator of the endorsement movement was Senator for the College of Humanities & Social Science, Andrew Wittmayer.
“There was polling done on both campuses,” Wittmayer said. “96 percent of [polled] students support this affiliation.”
Wittmayer explained that a total of about 275 students were polled across both campuses. Support was overwhelming on each campus, with 126 Marietta students and 139 Kennesaw students voicing their support for affiliation.
Wittmayer also planned out how to pay the $1,500 affiliation fee without students having to worry about shelling out more money to the cause. Once affiliated, the WRC will investigate the businesses from which the university buys its products to ensure the products are ethically sourced. Although the WRC has no authority to force change in the case it finds any unethical sourcing, historically, institutions have followed the advice of the consortium to avoid backlash from consumers.
“It would put Kennesaw State University on the map and let the other universities in the state know that we are buying apparel that is ethically sourced,” Wittmayer said.
After some brief discussion, Senator for the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering & Engineering Technology, Vincent Coakley, moved to vote on the proposal and was seconded by Senator for the College of Science & Mathematics, Abigail Maurer. The vote was unanimous with Senator Wittmayer being the only abstention.
Once affiliated, KSU will become the only institution in the University System of Georgia to partner with the WRC and join Spelman College as one of the only two affiliates in the state.
Some other business also took place at the last general body meeting of 2019 as the officers approved a bylaw revision proposed Director of Procedural Operations, Renard Snell. The revision impacts section 7.3.1 of the SGA bylaws that previously stated that officer demerits and strikes would reset every half-year, at the beginning of each spring and fall semester.
The revision adds a clause that, in some circumstances, if the procedural operations director and the Governance Committee come to an agreement, then an officer’s demerits and strikes can roll over, or remain, in the next semester.
“There were some things that didn’t get handled like they were supposed to in a timely manner,” Snell said.
This revision aims to hold the officers more accountable for their duties. One example Snell gave was if an officer purposefully did not complete their last officer report and took a strike, because they knew it would be wiped at the start of the next semester. That officer would then be at risk of having their strikes and demerits carried over into the next semester.
“In an organization like student government, accountability should be one of our biggest priorities,” said Vanessa Benitez, the senate lead of the Kennesaw campus. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re seeing that this semester, so that’s why these revisions are coming up.”
After discussing the issue for a while, Senator Coakley moved to have a clause added to the revision stating that, the officer must be notified in advance if their strikes and demerits would carry over into the next semester.
In addition to this motion passing, the new revision was voted on and passed and will take effect in the spring.
With the end of the semester approaching and election time drawing nearer, President Samuel Brand appointed a new Elections Chair. Molly Trantham, an outgoing senior, was approved by the senate to take over as the elections chair for the next election. Trantham will form a committee to oversee the election. The election bylaws were also voted on and approved by the senate.
Finally, near the end of the meeting, Senate Lead Benitez announced that she will step down from her position to truly embrace the time she has left at college.
“I’ve been in SGA since I’ve been in college, so it’s time for me to close this chapter of my life,” Benitez said. “I have one year left in college and I want to spend it like I have one year left in college.”
Though it was an emotional moment, Benitez gave thanks and praise to the association she had given so much time and effort to.
If anybody else had any other announcements, they held their tongues because nobody wanted to upstage Benitez and her heartfelt goodbye. The meeting drew to a solemn close and with it, the 2019 chapter of SGA at KSU.
Chris Mathis Portfolio & Blog 