In an effort to uplift the voices of freshmen students, the Associate Students of Madison Student Council introduced legislation Tuesday that would establish a committee for freshmen students.
Freshman and College of Letters and Science Rep. Ethan Carpenter argued that the creation of such a committee is necessary.
“Although valid arguments have been made against special seats being reserved for certain groups, it is important that we let the freshman student body know that this does not signify that we don’t value their voices,” Carpenter said.
ASM supports Student Judiciary for reallocation of freshmen seats
Student Judiciary voted to reallocate the freshman seats to other areas of representation in Student Council in February. Freshmen currently holding seats will finish their terms for this session. Carpenter said reaching out to freshman students and actively speaking to them about their concerns is another way to keep their voices alive.
It would be a way to preserve the freshman voice, Carpenter said. While the committee positions’ workload and time commitment will be the same as Student Council positions, the committee will be a separate part of ASM.
“We would be able to accept the reasoning of Student Judiciary while continuing to work on this issue with them, while also preserving the freshman voice that has been present in past sessions,” Carpenter said.
Student organizations critical to creating impactful, positive college experience
The legislation for the proposed first-year committee will be voted on at the next ASM meeting March 20.
