The St. Edward’s University Student Government Association swore in new members at its third formal Senate meeting of the semester on Oct. 2.

Freshman John Carter filled the vacant senator position and sophomore Andrea Barrera-Rodriguez was sworn in as an Associate Member.

Senators also approved four bills for initial passage. Bill authors and sponsors are now authorized to conduct further research to revise their bills before the final vote.

The “SGA Informative Bulletin Boards” bill, authored by Sen. Victoria Godinez and sponsored by Sen. Paola Gallegos, proposes that bulletin boards be installed in residence halls to increase awareness of current SGA legislation and events.

Gallegos also sponsored the “It’s On Us, Hilltoppers” bill, which was written by Victoria Ochoa. The bill was provisioned as a result of President Obama’s recent “It’s On Us” nationwide campaign which aims to engage everyone on college campuses in preventing sexual assault.

SGA plans to reach out to organizations such as Campus Ministry, Residence Life and the Health and Counseling Center to initiate campus-wide discussion and awareness on sexual violence issues.

“The goal is to shift the current campus culture surrounding sexual violence to include bystander intervention and a sense of community responsibility,” Ochoa said.

The “Recycling Awareness” bill, written by Jonathan Cruz, student court clerk, and sponsored by Sen. Jacob Rogers was also introduced during the meeting. The goal of the bill is to incorporate awareness and availability of recycling resources by adding more recycling bins across campus and finding ways to make the average student more aware of current recycling locations.

Sen. Kyle Thomas authored the “Hand-Sanitizer in the RCC” bill, which proposes proper maintenance of hand sanitizers in the Recreation and Convocation Center and other campus buildings to ensure a healthy environment for students.

SGA will host three campus events this month.

The Campus Safety Walk will take place on Oct. 7 under the direction of associate professor of criminal justice Michelle Richter. Participants will canvas the campus with university police officers to determine where light posts should be installed to increase campus safety.

The SGA Public Forum will be held on Oct. 20 in the Mabee ballrooms. The forum will address the implementation of the plus/minus grading system, campus safety and the Rave Initiative.

There will also be a student panel to facilitate a Title IX discussion. Information Technology representatives will further explain how to use MyHilltop at the forum as well.

President Samantha Mendoza will also speak on both legislation that has been recently passed and that is in the process of passage.

SGA encourages all students to attend the forum.

“Senators like me and all the others want to have students’ input on what the students want us to do, so we can do what the students actually want us to do,” Sen. Michael Haywood said.

SGA will also hold an Election Showcase on Oct. 29 in Jones Auditorium. Texas politicians representing the four major political parties will share the attributes of their candidates and give reasons why students should vote for them. Student questions will be facilitated by associate professor of political science Brian Smith.

Deputized members of SGA, like director of external affairs Jacqueline Schicker, recently registered 110 students to vote in the upcoming November elections.

“The SGA Senators are doing a tremendous job taking their initiatives and seeing them through,” Chief of Staff Michael Cimino said.