Vice President of Internal Affairs Connor Le said that bill 60-35 lists several instances where the Board of Trustees acted against the best interests of MSU and its students.

The bill labels the Board of Trustees as "overstepping within their power as a governing body," especially during and after the mass shooting on Feb. 13, which highlighted how big of a problem this has become, according to Le. 

The bill also highlighted the board's refusal to release the 6,000 documents related to ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar and the alleged leak of Brenda Tracy's name. Le called this a "total failure to protect and support survivors of sexual assault at MSU."

Le mentioned the potential risk of the university losing its accreditation due to the actions of the board, which would harm both federal funding and financial aid.

He also cited an overall lack of communication and openness between several groups on campus, such as the board’s willingness to elect a candidate not endorsed by the presidential search committee and the “arbitrary” Thanksgiving deadline for the search. 

Additionally, according to the bill, the Board of Trustees interfered with parties suing the university, which led to the board being added to said lawsuit. 

"Let it be known that this bill is not targeting a single trustee for the actions, but the actions of the entire board," Le said. "A vote of no confidence sends a powerful message that the current conflict of the board is not supported by the student body they are meant to represent."

However, bill 60-35 does not include Interim President Teresa Woodruff. Le explained that Woodruff’s presidency ending soon would diminish power in a no-confidence vote against her. 

Last year, ASMSU voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees after the board neglected their Title IX responsibilities and violated their code of conduct and ethics by hiring an outside firm to investigate the removal of former Broad College of Business Dean Sanjay Gupta.

Connor Le said that vote had been ASMSU’s hope to transform the board for the better, but the board’s recent actions highlight a lack of change.

"The last few weeks have shown that it is time for new leadership who can respond to these concerns … without petty arguments or false promises," Le said. 

Le also gave a personal apology to a group he believes has been impacted by the Board of Trustees: survivors. 

"ASMSU stands with survivors, and I want to wholeheartedly say I am sorry to any survivor who may be listening to the lack of response from the board and university administration," Le said. "It is time for the board to be better."

Arab Cultural Society representative Saba Saed commented on how these issues among the Board of Trustees have polarized students on campus. Many Muslim-Palestinian and Black students expressed their grievances with the board at Oct. 27’s Board of Trustees meeting, but Saed believes this bill can further emphasize discussions around students’ wants and needs. 

Bill 60-35 passed with 20 votes in favor, one against and two abstentions.

Bill 60-33

This bill increases funding for ASMSU’s health services. Vice President of Financial Operations Drew Gardner said last year, ASMSU voted to give their Health, Safety and Wellness department $2,000 less than usual. 

Health, Safety and Wellness Director Kathryn Harding said their department successfully celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week in early October. However, Harding said she had to put most of the department’s budget toward these events.

"Even the year before (the budget cut), Health, Safety and Wellness had a separate budget for mental health awareness week," Harding said. "Just with how much everything costs nowadays, it would be super helpful to have more funding for my department, just because I believe that mental health and that sort of awareness should extend beyond one week in the fall."

Some future events Harding has in mind include collaborating with March for Our Lives on the one-year anniversary of the MSU shooting and offering students resources and emotional support during finals week.

Bill 60-33 passed unanimously, directing $2,000 back into the Health, Safety and Wellness department.

Bill 60-29

Bill 60-29 updates failed bill 60-22 to strongly encourage reporting conflicts of interests instead of mandating ASMSU members to report romantic relationships among each other. 

"One thing we did in the changes was emphasize that the rule is not mandatory — it’s just highly encouraged," Le said. "These rules are made just to protect not only you all as General Assembly members, but also staff, members of (Office of the President), any sort of person involved in ASMSU, just so we can prevent any power dynamics."

Bill 60-29 passed unanimously.

Bill 60-28

This bill advocates for renaming Birch Road to Earvin Magic Johnson Road in honor of the MSU basketball legend. 

Birch Road runs east of the Breslin Center and the Magic Johnson Statue.

Bill 60-28 passed unanimously.

Presentation from Residence Education and Housing Services

ASMSU heard a presentation about maintaining student success from Christopher Stone-Sewalish, the associate director for administration at Residence Education and Housing Services, or REHS. 

Christopher Stone-Sewalish, associate director for administration at REHS, said that many sophomore students can experience a 'slump,' where they may let their grades slip or lose passion for their major. 

"This can oftentimes be attributed to fewer support services and programs for second-year students compared to first-year students," Stone-Sewalish said. 

In fall 2021, MSU extended on-campus living requirements to include students’ second year. Bethany Balks, associate director for communications in MSU Residence Education and Housing Services, said this change was to improve retention rates among second-year students.

Stone-Sewalish said REHS contacts every student with a housing plan who isn’t re-enrolling for next year to see how they can offer support. 

Stone-Sewalish acknowledged how, in fall 2022, MSU used transitional housing due to unprecedented class sizes. The school year began with 500 transitional beds across dorms. 

"We actually retained more students in the general first-year class that were in transitional housing than those that were not," Stone-Sewalish said. "I’m also happy to report that we were able to make an offer to every single student that was in transitional space to move to a non-transitional space."

In fall 2023, MSU opened with 400 available beds, Stone-Sewalish said. 

"It’s important to keep in mind that, each year when we plan for housing sign-up, it’s a 17,200-bed puzzle," Stone-Sewalish said. "The first place we start is estimating the size of the incoming class. Then what we do is take a few different data points on the returning student class. This year we received about 2,000 interest forms for students who wanted to come back to campus who identified as second year or above."

Stone-Sewalish said REHS plans to renovate Campbell Hall, renovate water softeners, add more all-gender restrooms, and replace the MyHousing system with a newer system.