Wichita State’s Student Senate unanimously passed a bill to change the role of underserved senator to at-large Senator. 

“These changes are happening because of a budget proviso that’s prohibiting DEI programming, training, activities and related efforts, which went into effect on July 1, and we expect to continue to be in effect with the new budget provisos,” Speaker of the Student Senate Matthew Phan said. 

In the previous SGA by-laws, underserved senator seats were “reserved for Association members who are identified as underserved students as defined through the University’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan including students who self identify as LGBTQ+ or disabled individuals as well as all persons of color. If the University does not track said information, the underserved position shall serve all identities represented by this seat.”

The by-laws have now been changed to “Five (5) seats shall be reserved for Association members elected at-large from the general Association membership. Students serving in this seat shall be known as At-Large Senators.” 

This makes the seats open to all students. 

For this initiative to go into effect, the WSU student body has to vote to approve it, which will be on the ballot for the upcoming SGA elections starting on April 6. 

The Student Senate meets every week on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are open to the public and live streamed on SGA’s YouTube.