ASMSU talks to President, approves bills on name removal and new referendum

The Associated Students of Michigan State University spoke with President Kevin Guskiewicz at their General Assembly meeting last night, before passing bills to open up more seating, stream meetings via Instagram, and advocate for removing Justin Morrill’s name from MSU’s Agricultural Hall.

Presentation of the President

The meeting began with a brief presentation from Guskiewicz, covering topics discussed at the beginning of the semester. He began by acknowledging the more than 11,000 new students (freshmen and transfers) and said this will be the largest incoming class in MSU history.

Guskiewicz also emphasized the importance of the MSU 2030 Strategic Plan, saying he will review it in the coming months and announce changes early in the spring semester.

He then moved on to a conversation about civil discourse in light of cases of discrimination and harassment on campus earlier this month.

“Everyone who has earned their place here at Michigan State University deserves to be here,” Guskiewicz said. “We will hold those people accountable.”

When questions were opened for Guskiewicz, Asian Pacific American Student Organization representative Alexandra Pham asked if he thought hate speech was free speech.

Guskiewicz responded: “Most hate speech is, in fact, protected speech. I know it can be hurtful to many people at times, but hate speech can become a hate crime, which is not protected when there is an action that accompanies that speech. It’s something we need to better educate our community about.”

The conversation then turned to the topic of divestment, which the General Assembly passed last year with a bill in support of it. Amaan Abdul Mohl, a representative of the Muslim Students Association, asked for an update on discussions about MSU’s divestment from weapons manufacturers.

Guskiewicz said the board is continuing to review its investment policy and a decision on a policy change will be made by the end of the semester.

This week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel closed her investigation into documents related to Michigan State University’s handling of the case of disgraced former doctor Larry Nassar, and students also had questions about the university’s next steps. Vice President for Internal Administration Kathryn Harding asked Guskiewicz how Michigan State University will ensure survivors receive support in the future and that institutional transparency is guaranteed.

“Those voices are important to us,” Guskiewicz said. “I’ve spoken to survivors who have reached out to me, and I’ve reached out to others to provide opportunities for them to come and talk about their experiences and how this community can learn from them.”

Bill to add voting seats

House Bill 61-11 proposes adding a referendum to the fall 2024 undergraduate election ballot to ask whether the General Assembly should add four representative seats to each class council, which would be elected by the respective class.

Currently, each class council has an elected representative who attends General Assembly meetings to relay information to class council members, but has no legislative power in the General Assembly. This bill would give those representatives voting power.

James Madison College Representative Genevieve Lucas introduced the bill saying it would provide more representation within the student body and cover areas where students may not be receiving adequate representation.

Vice President of Finance and Operations Delaney Jones expressed support for the bill. She said class councils would have more legitimacy if they were allowed to vote in the General Assembly, and that this would make them more comprehensive.

Jewish Student Union representative Zach Nessel expressed concern about the bill. He said he was unsure whether the process of electing a class council representative solely through the respective council and not the entire student body could fully represent an entire class.

Associate Vice President for Internal Administration Madaline Hanes also expressed support for the bill.

“I’ve been a member of the class council for a year,” Hanes said. “We just don’t have a real avenue to get these changes implemented. We can go and ask the representatives who are elected to come up with a proposal, but that’s very difficult when you’re dealing with a freshman and a freshman class council communicating with members of the general assembly.”

Bill 61-11 was approved with 19 votes in favor, one vote against and three abstentions.

Bill for additional live broadcasts of meetings

Currently, ASMSU General Assembly meetings are only streamed via Facebook Live. Bill 61-16 would allow meetings to be streamed via Instagram as well.

Rep. Abigail Rodriguez, of the Residential College of Arts and Humanities, introduced the bill. She said ASMSU gets more engagement on Instagram than on Facebook. Allowing meetings to be streamed through Instagram would also make them more accessible to students, Rodriguez said.

The bill was approved by a majority of votes with one abstention.

Bill to remove name from building

Bill 61-17 would reintroduce the previously proposed Bill 57-72 defense. This involves advocating for the removal of Justin S. Morrill’s name from the Morrill Hall of Agriculture and other Big Ten campuses.

Morrill was a Vermont senator who passed a land grant law that displaced millions of Native Americans across the country.

This bill was introduced by Representative Kaylin Casper of the North American Indian Student Organization.

Casper said the timing of this bill is also essential, as the Naming Committee will hold a meeting on Sept. 24.

Rep. Nessel said he wanted to have a discussion about Morrill before rushing to condemn the individual.

Rep. Casper said: “I’m an Anishinaabekwe native, I represent my own community, not just myself. It was detrimental because his actions led to forced dispossession, that’s why I want his name removed.”

Representative Missy Chola of the Black Student Alliance also expressed support for the bill.

“I don’t think it’s our place to speak out (to refute) something like this,” Chola said. “If that community has said that this is something that makes them feel the way it makes them feel, it’s our place to support them, be there for them and vote with them.”

The bill was approved by a majority of votes and with one abstention.

Resignation and new RideShare app

Vice President for Government Affairs Josie Danielkiewicz resigned from her position after the demands of her classes and other obligations became too much to handle.

“If there were enough hours in the day to maintain my grades, be a VPGA, and successfully perform all of my other leadership roles, believe me, I would do it all,” she said. “I have a deep love for government and advocacy and have dedicated my college career to these activities. This decision was not easy, but it is necessary.”

Additionally, ASMSU announced that the program Safe travel The program will use a new app starting Friday. It offers transportation for students in the evenings and operates from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., seven days a week.