On Wednesday, Sept. 18, members of Union University’s student senate met in Harvey Hall to debate the amendment of the Mr. and Ms. Union student government association bylaw put forth by the homecoming committee.
Kathleen Balon, senior economics and political science double major and attorney general, presented the amendment to Senate, acting as a spokesperson for the Homecoming Committee. She emphasized that the homecoming committee wanted to raise the standards for nominations and move away from popularity contest aspects of the selection process for Mr. and Ms. Union.
Senators and class council members were split on the adoption of this amendment, and people who were both opposed to and in favor of the amendment stood up to share their opinions. Members of senate applauded arguments from both sides, and Emma Sanders, executive vice president, had to call the meeting to order several times.
The most controversial aspect of the amendment was the increase of the minimum GPA requirement for nominees from a 2.5 to a 3.0. The amendment also removed class representatives and homecoming queen as well as parental escorts at the homecoming game.
“The goal here really is to remove the popularity contest that existed prior,” said Balon. “It’s not going to be a majority rule anymore. We’re going to filter based on character and who represents Union’s values and also make it less like a high school homecoming.”
After much debate, the amendment to the bylaw passed with the majority of senators voting in favor of the amendment. The new requirements for Mr. and Ms. Union will be effective immediately and apply to homecoming this year. The homecoming committee hopes that by enacting these changes, Union’s homecoming will move away from a high school type homecoming and move toward a more adult approach to it.
“We’re adults, right? We all came here to Union. We’re over the age of 18. We don’t need parental chaperones nor do we need a homecoming queen,” said Balon. “So really they’re looking to have Mr. and Ms. Union be a representative of good standing and academic integrity for Union.”
For the most part, students seem to think of the amendment as a positive thing.
“I know the GPA requirement turned out to be more controversial than we were expecting,” said Raelen VanDuzer, sophomore economics and linguistics double major, “but I expect the nominations to be of a similar quality to those in past years despite the tension.”
You can read about the changes to the homecoming bylaw by clicking here: Section 5 Amendment.
Photo courtesy of Neil Cole