05/13/2020
SGA Constitution Election Results and Moving Forward:
The SGA would like to thank everyone who was involved in the constitution rewrite process. From those who first spoke to us about concerns they saw with the current document, to those who voted, and those who expressed concerns in our last meeting. We believe in transparency and advocacy for students, which involves putting the student concerns as our main priority.
For some background history. The reason we first decided to change the constitution was due to a petition of a concerned group of students who took the time to highlight why the constitution was incorrect, what was missing, and how it could be improved. After several conversations, we realized the current document could not just be amended – instead, it had to be completely redone. Why? The previous constitution did not put anyone into accountability, did not have an outlined Senate system, did not consider the inflation prices for student organizations, was missing important clauses such as the anti-discrimination and anti-hazing clause, no fund request measures were in place for when quorum was not met, and was, as we quickly noticed, always up for different interpretations.
We then started the process of accepting amendments and working with an ad hoc committee to change the constitution, comparing different documents (such as the UH System SGA constitutions) and merging it with the goals and values of UHCL. Unfortunately, the committee did not work as was expected due to a change in members and the time it was taking to complete different portions of the document. Therefore, the Executive Council worked together to finish what the committee started and opened the document to the entire student body since mid-February.
Unfortunately, because of this pandemic, all of our goals to communicate this constitution process were thwarted. We were ready to table for weeks to promote the revision process, work with other offices for this process, and use our office as a promoting zone, in a sense. Even with our inability to successfully outreach this process, we received feedback from over 30 involved students, whom we conversed heavily to come to what you see now. A new, finalized constitution.
We wish the process could have ended here. In this week’s meeting, the voting was concluded and the results were announced. Although the constitution did receive a majority approval by those who voted, it did not reach the two-thirds goal as interpreted in both proposed and current constitution. This raised concerns from many students, and because we are a governing organization which first and foremost listens to its members, we have decided to listen to their concerns and agree that the proposed constitution cannot pass. Therefore, we as an organization are officially removing the proposed constitution from the floor.
It is our hope that in the future, the new SGA cohorts will look at this document and analyze it critically. For them to look at how it can be improved, so that all of our students can be positively represented, and all student organizations can benefit from the Student Government Association. Until then, we thank you all for being part of this long and arduous journey, and we look forward to seeing the amazing improvements that we know this student body can do. Have a great day and stay safe. GO HAWKS!
Sincerely,
SGA Executive Council
