Prior to being elected president, Jackson joined the senate at the end of his second year at GVSU and has held the chief of staff position. Vice President-elect Vanlerberghe joined as a freshman and has served as both a general senator and public relations chair. As they prepare to step into their newly elected positions, they hope the student body sees their love and commitment for the University.

“As soon as we got the email with the official election results, we called each other as fast as we could to celebrate,” Vanlerberghe said. “The feeling was indescribable, knowing that all of our hard work had paid off and that we (have) the opportunity to lead the organization we love.”

Jackson said when he first became chief of staff, his goal was to give the brand-new role a lasting impact and make Student Senate more effective, focused and better equipped to serve students.

“I saw an opportunity to bring clarity to our organization’s inner workings, streamline how we operate and create a more balanced structure,” Jackson said.

In his new role, Jackson hopes to expand the ability of students to voice campus concerns and build an inclusive culture. His goal is to create a culture where students feel inspired to play a part in the campus’ future.

“I aim to expand how we connect with students and elevate their voices in every conversation that shapes this university,” Jackson said. “That means advocating for real changes like expanding dining options, enhancing campus engagement on weekends and ensuring students feel heard and included.”

Like Jackson, Vanlerberghe hopes to usher in a smooth transition as he leaves his previous role for the new position.

“The work of the public relations chair is to ensure clear and active communication between (the) Student Senate and the student body,” Vanlerberghe said. “My goal is for no momentum to be lost in transition. I am confident moving forward that my position will be in good hands and I am concentrating on empowering their success as much as possible.” 

Vanlerberghe said building relationships with students and helping them understand campus resources has been one of his biggest personal  accomplishments thus far. He hopes to continue fostering a strong relationship between students and the senate.

“Looking ahead, I am dedicated to growing the strength and community inside of our body and fostering a culture that is eager to work for students, with students,” Vanlerberghe said. “I want (the) Student Senate to be as effective as possible, and am ready to work to do so.”

The student ID bill was sponsored by the Senate’s Chief of Staff, Evan Jackson. According to the bill, students could theoretically display their student ID on mobile devices through near-field communication by adding their ID to their digital wallet. Passed in a unanimous 32-0 vote, the Student Senate is urging the University to look into the cost, security measures, technology partnerships and other needs to make digitization possible.

Similarly, many students at GVSU have shifted to the use of mobile payments and digital wallets for everyday use rather than using physical credit cards. This habit, in conjunction with students’ integration of technology in other daily tasks, led Student Senate to pursue a more contemporary use of IDs on campus.

“Digitizing student IDs will improve convenience, accessibility and sustainability on campus,” Jackson said. “Students already use their phones for most daily tasks and transactions, and carrying a physical ID can be an extra hassle, especially when lost or forgotten.” 

Jackson said the new ID system could be as simple as allowing students to use the digital ID in campus dining halls, convenience stores, the Recreation Center and other events that require student identification. The senate hypothesizes the digital approach could even be adapted to use in on-campus housing, as well as on the Laker Line bus system.

“The bill came about after conversations with fellow students, meetings with key stakeholders like the IT Department and research into other universities implementing digital student IDs,” said Jackson.

When the bill was put up to vote in the senate’s General Assembly, many senators recognized the impact and practicality digitization offers to campus life. 

“The lives of students are busy, and any way that campus can be made more convenient is something worth investing in,” said Student Senate Public Relations Chair Ty Vanlerberghe. “Evan’s bill takes an innovative approach to providing convenience by encouraging the addition of student IDs to smart wallets. Students can have one less thing to juggle when attending (sporting) events, utilizing campus recreation and accessing campus dining,”

Senator Sophie Gemmen helped to develop the senate’s press release for the bill. Gemmen said she is eager to see how the project progresses in the near future.

“I voted in favor of the bill because I believe digitizing student IDs is a fantastic initiative that I know would make my life much easier,” Gemmen said. “I am grateful for all of Evan’s work on this bill, especially when considering the number of stakeholders involved in following through with a project as intricate as this one.”

Gemmen is not alone in her excitement about the prospect. Vanlerberghe said the student body’s reaction to the legislation has been mostly positive. 

“Many of my peers have reached out to me and other members of our body (the senate) to express both their gratitude for the bill, and their eagerness to see this change come to campus,” Vanlerberghe said. “I think that serves as a testament to the importance of this idea, and how it is truly centered around a topic that touches students.” 

Jackson confirmed that despite the excitement, University faculty and staff still have things to consider before the bill can officially be put into action and students are able to add their ID to their digital wallets.

“Since the bill just passed, the next step is for administration to assess the feasibility of implementing digital IDs, including technical requirements and cost considerations,” Jackson said. “While there is no set timeline, students can expect updates from Student Senate as the University begins reviewing the logistics and potential rollout phases.”

The State of the Student Senate address was held at the University’s Cook-DeWitt Center. The address highlighted various updates from each of the Senate’s five committees, along with updates from the Senate president and vice president. In addition to discussing each committee’s policies, reestablishing faculty-student relationships and solidifying responsibilities of the new “chief of staff” position were central focuses.

Senate President Quinten Proctor opened the address by providing updates on his recent work, which included reestablishing relationships between faculty and students. To do so, Proctor has worked closely with the University Academic Senate (UAS).

“Generally, faculty care a lot about the student experience and want to ensure students are successful, so student and faculty interests are aligned in many ways,” Proctor said. “I’ve worked very closely with Courtney Karasinski, the chair of (UAS), which has helped us both have a greater understanding of student and faculty perspectives on issues.”

In March, Proctor said he plans to introduce a new bill to the Senate focusing on learning disabilities, alongside Senator Brin DeVries.

“(The bill) will for sure be asking Inclusion and Equity and the (Pew) Faculty Teaching and Learning Center to create module(s) highlighting disabilities, and also (how) communication challenges can impact students’ experience and ability to engage in class,” Proctor said. “This would be a resource available to faculty seeking to better support students, and this bill will encourage faculty to use (the) module.”

The bill proposal may also call to shift a portion of mandatory staff “core competency” training to focus on inclusivity, though Proctor said the bill is still in the developmental stage.

Chief of Staff

Following Proctor’s speech, Senate Chief of Staff Evan Jackson was introduced. His position is a brand new role to Student Senate, and was established in the organization’s restructuring last year. Jackson said building the position from the ground up has been “both rewarding and challenging.”

“Since this was the first time Grand Valley’s Student Senate had a Chief of Staff, I had the unique opportunity to define what the role should be,” Jackson said. “My focus has been on three key pillars: efficiency, accountability and communication. That meant ensuring committees and executive leadership were aligned, holding senators accountable to their commitments and creating stronger communication between (the) Senate and the student body.”

Jackson said he has worked to simplify the Senate structure to make it easier for the general public to understand his position. He has also assisted senators with 193 events, and

addressed results from a mid-semester survey, which highlighted successes made by the Senate. Survey findings show that 97% of senators felt engaged during General Assembly meetings, and spotlighted a rise in organizational diversity.

Advocacy & Policy

The chair of the Senate’s Advocacy Committee, Genna Wright, shared information about multiple events that the Advocacy Committee recently helped make possible. These events include teach-ins, service opportunities honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and spreading awareness about breast cancer in October.

Wright teased the introduction of a new event in the works titled “Multicultural Night.” The event will be held on Thursday, March 29 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Kirkhof’s Grand River Room. The event’s focus is to highlight the diverse culture found throughout the University’s campuses.

Policy Chair Alec Palumbo shared that the Policy Committee has been working to build relationships with on-campus services, such as Housing and Residence Life, Parking Services, the Office of Sustainability Practices and the University Libraries. He also shared further information about a holiday bill for international students that was passed in January by the Senate.

Other legislative updates included the introduction of a new bill to provide Narcan, menstrual products and other health-related resources to students in an accessible manner. Vice President Paris Lawson further addressed the initiative in her closing remarks.

Allocation Address

Allocations Committee Chair Nancy Boyd said the committee was able to utilize a $100,000 fund from the Office of Student Life to help 50 different student organizations.

“Student Senate is honored to support student organizations (that) have members dedicated to engaging the campus community,” Boyd said. “Allocating $100,000 to diligent and enthusiastic student organizations has been an absolute honor. They (student organizations) are the backbone of this campus.”

For any allocation of funds to be given, a registered student organization can request funding on LakerLink, which will then be reviewed by the Senate’s Allocations Committee. Following this, requests can be denied, approved or adjusted.

The committee was also able to use a portion of the reserve fund to renovate the Russel H. Kirkhof Center by upgrading audiovisual systems in several rooms of the building. The $200,000 allocation to upgrade these systems improves convenience for faculty and students. Of the 12 rooms in Kirkhof that have or are in the process of being renovated, three have received equipment to become “Zoom rooms.”

“This allocation upgrades incredibly outdated technology (in Kirkhof), and allows these rooms to accommodate events and clubs that require such technology,” Boyd said.

Public Relations Address

The Public Relations Committee’s main focus has been improving its social media engagement and collaborations with other on-campus services.

Ty Vanlerberghe, public relations chair, shared that there has been a 250% increase in the Senate’s Instagram engagement.

“Aside from collaboration, this year, I am especially proud of our expanded social media presence with an increased professionalism across our accounts,” Vanlerberghe said.

Health Vending Bill

Lawson closed out the address talking about the focus of her work in the Senate. Lawson shared that she has facilitated the Senate’s legislative process, worked on dashboard documents and recently passed a bill to add health vending machines to areas of the University’s Allendale, Pew and Health Campuses.

The machines will provide free Narcan, emergency contraception, condoms, over-the-counter medication, menstrual products and pregnancy tests.

The bill is a great pride of many senators, and Proctor said he is very proud of the Senate’s work.

“The Vice President, Paris Lawson, spent a lot of time and effort to write this bill and garner support from stakeholders across campus,” Proctor said. “I also think this bill will be impactful to students.”

Overall, Senate Events Chair Karen Theakston feels one of the most promising developments of late has been the building of unity between senators.

“I’m deeply proud of how our Student Senate has significantly ramped up its involvement in various events and activities, particularly in (its) volunteering efforts,” Theakston said. “We’ve seen a noticeable increase in collaboration among senators, (which has) fostered a sense of unity and teamwork that has been truly heartwarming.”

Naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, Narcan can prevent overdoses from opioids such as heroin, fentanyl and morphine. Narcan can either be administered by a nasal spray or an injection, and typically goes into effect after two to three minutes. According to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, more than 103,000 lives were saved because of Narcan between 2017 and 2024. Similarly, Narcan use increased by 43% between 2020 and 2022.

Paris Lawson, Student Senate’s vice president, proposed the bill. According to Lawson, the legislation has already passed through both the Senate’s Cabinet and Judiciary Committee, where it received majority approval. Lawson said she was inspired to write the Narcan training bill because of a personal connection to the lifesaving skill. Lawson said she had a friend whose life was at high risk due to substance use, and she realized that RAs were not trained to help her friend if an emergency were to occur.

“This bill is crucial because GVSU prioritizes safety and prevention as its top values,” Lawson said. “By equipping RAs with Narcan and the knowledge to use it, we can save lives, perhaps even just one, and that alone would be worth it.”

Before the bill was created, Student Senate did extensive research on the topic, including examining what other universities have done to reduce opioid overdoses. Universities across the United States have implemented measures to reduce opioid overdoses by making Narcan available on their campuses. CPR, AED and Narcan training have become more accessible on college campuses, and some universities, such as Wayne State University, have even installed vending machines that dispense Narcan.

College students face an increased risk of opioid overdose because of their exposure to drug use. The National Library of Medicine reported that 12% of college students misuse prescription opioids without medical necessity. Even those who are prescribed opioids for medical treatment can be at risk of accidental overdose, due to toxic drug interactions.

By equipping RAs with Narcan training, Student Senate hopes to create a safer environment on campus, and ensure that help is just a moment away if needed.

“I don’t see how this (Narcan training) can be anything but a positive,” said GVSU student Marshall Murdick. “You never know (when) someone might need this. It won’t affect my day to day as a student, but it might save another person’s life. This will be another skill in an RA’s toolbox to help keep students safe. That’s invaluable.”

If the General Assembly approves the bill, it will be presented to the Vice President of Student Affairs, Jenny Hall-Jones, who will share it with all relevant stakeholders for examination.

Lawson feels that without the bill, student safety would be at increased risk and the University’s commitment to safety would be undermined.

“This initiative promotes education and awareness around drug use and prevention, which makes for a safer and more informed campus community,” Lawson said.

Quinten Proctor, the president of Student Senate, is serving his second term. Proctor noted that student feedback prompted the Senate’s goals moving forward this semester. 

“The biggest goal this semester is the broad idea of ensuring that all students have the resources and support they need to succeed at Grand Valley,” Proctor said. “That reflects on the town halls that were hosted in the spring, and concerns from students that there weren’t enough resources.”

Proctor highlighted the University Counseling Center as an area of focus for the Senate, as he believes on-campus resources in high demand could use extra support. Other locations on campus the Senate hopes to support include the GVSU Tutoring and Reading Center and the Mary Idema Pew Library’s Knowledge Market.

Proctor said enhancing various resources for students ties into another focal point of the Senate– building a more vibrant campus culture. 

Following the pandemic, Proctor said GVSU experienced a downtrend in student participation at campus events and student organization membership. Similarly, Proctor noted many students have voiced that a lack of weekend activities leads many to leave campus and return home for the weekend.

“We are finding a way to either partner with Campus Activities Board (CAB), or host events ourselves that try to keep students more engaged,” Proctor said.

The Student Senate hosts general assembly meetings on Thursdays, where senators gather to discuss current issues and new initiatives. Members of the public are welcome to attend. General assembly meetings have two designated time slots, once in the beginning and once at the end, for any attendee to share their feedback with the Senate.

Paris Lawson, the Student Senate vice president, said Senate meetings are a place where students and faculty are encouraged to bring their ideas. 

“As we look to the future, I envision this year’s Senate leaving a legacy of inclusivity and advocacy,” Lawson said. “I hope that the initiatives we are working on today will create a stronger foundation for future students, one where their voices are heard, their needs are met and the campus continues to evolve.”

Proctor said Student Senate allows the University community to be involved in change, and encourages student engagement, even if they are not interested in joining the Senate.

“At the end of the day, the University is here to serve the students,” Proctor said.

In October, representatives from the University Counseling Center will be attending the general assembly meeting to talk about mental health advocacy. This will be an opportunity for the GVSU community to be informed on the state of the Counseling Center, and the needs of the GVSU community.

The Student Senate went through restructuring this year, due to a bill proposed by Senate President Quinten Proctor and Senate Executive Vice President Maggie Hallead called the Omnibus Bill. The organizational change aims to be more representative of the student body.

The Omnibus Bill came following a significant decline in Student Senate participation after the pandemic and some standing issues in the organization.

“At our first meeting of this school year, we only had 12 seats filled out of the 50 seats available and none of us had any experience in any leadership positions on Senate,” Proctor said.

It was incredibly difficult for the Student Senate to tackle the issues facing students with limited senators. Proctor said the reason the Student Senate was on such a steep decline was partially from several seniors graduating, as well as organizational flaws, “because we were so stuck in doing the same things and following the same processes that we had always done,” Proctor said.

Through the Omnibus Bill, the Student Senate adjusted to the current college experience, reserving seats for students in each college within the University including graduate, international and first-year students.

Riley Gessler, a nursing major, is currently running for a college representative seat of the Kirkhof College of Nursing. Being part of the Student Senate is incredibly important to Gessler.

“I love to see real changes happen and I know I could do that with this organization,” Gessler said.

If Gessler wins the spot of Kirkhof College of Nursing representative, they will be able to be a part of things that truly matter to them.

“I get to help with inspiring events such as Elect Her, Last Lecture, Exam Cram and many more,” Gessler said.

Gessler explained if they were to win the senate seat, they are interested in adding the Grand Valley State University Student ID in the Apple Wallet and making physical textbooks more accessible. Overall, Gessler is pleased with the restructuring.

“(The Omnibus Bill) has been very helpful for me and other Senators. I see this new and improved Senate as a way to give more benefits to the students and for us to run more smoothly,” Gessler said.

Freshman Anna Richards is also running for one of the new seats on the Student Senate. Currently a double major in Human Resource Management and Marketing, Richards is running for the new Seidman College of Business seat. If Richards wins, she plans to address “the price gouging of food and other items in the P.O.D stores around campus.”

Since the Omnibus Bill passed, the Student Senate body has grown to 33 members. Restructuring allowed the Senate to expand engagement and adjust each Student Senate member’s workload to be significantly lighter. 

The Senate also reorganized its Cabinet positions in the Omnibus Bill, adding a Chief of Staff position and a judicial branch to keep up with checks and balances. For the first time, students can vote for the President and the Vice President, although only one ticket is on the ballot, voting closes on March 25. Student Senate meetings are now held at both Allendale and Pew campuses to better reach all students.

The new Omnibus Bill is a stepping stone into a new era for Student Senate and the Senate remains hopeful that the new changes will better reflect the student body.

The joint-ticket pair Quinten Proctor and Paris Lawson are the sole candidates for Student Senate president and executive vice president positions as voting opens for students this week after the Student Senate restructuring plan.

Proctor, the current President of Student Senate, said GVSU senators are responsible for bringing student interests to campus administration.  

“The Board of Trustees charges us with being responsible for representing the student body and ensuring that the student voice is heard in University policies,” Proctor said.

According to Proctor, Student Senate works directly with faculty and University administration to make changes and recommendations, along with passing legislation to “recommend policy changes (and) to support different initiatives and developments that are happening on campus.” 

The Student Senate paused legislation in 2023 for restructuring that changed the composition of the senate body and reimagined the function of student government at GVSU. In the State of the Student Senate Address on Jan. 25, the senate announced the passage of restructuring legislation called the Omnibus Bill.

The Omnibus Bill introduced nine proposals regarding visibility, representation and function within the senate. The new model of the organization holds 19 seats for senators to be elected at large by the student body, 15 seats divided between each college at GVSU, four seats for freshman, one seat for an international student and one seat reserved for a graduate student. This model adds to 40 total senators, an entirely different structure then the previous year’s 50-seat model. The Omnibus Bill created also created a judicial branch and a chief of staff position in the senate, and requires that candidates for president and executive vice president run in a joint-ticket.

These changes have caused some sifts in student senate elections because there are different requirements for each seat, as well as different expectations for those who would like to run for student government.

Student Senate President Proctor and Vice President of Diversity Affairs Paris Lawson are running for Student Senate president and executive vice president. Proctor is double majoring in Political Science and International Relations. Lawson is currently majoring in International Relations and minoring in human rights and legal studies.

The two began their campaign on Feb. 10, announced through an Instagram post under the handle of @vote_proctor.lawson. The post explained that the senate’s structure would be slightly different than previous years because the Student Senate President and the Vice President will be directly elected by the students at large instead of by the members of Student Senate, also resulting from the Omnibus Bill. Proctor and Lawson have continued to post to their candidacy Instagram account, explaining their campaign plans along with reminders to vote for them.

Nancy Hoogwerf, the current vice president for allocation, and Magdalyn Hallead, the incumbent executive vice president, were running as president and executive vice president respectively, but suspended their campaign. This leaves the Proctor-Lawson ticket as the sole voting option for those positions.

Both students joined the Student Senate to try and make an impact on their community. Proctor joined the Senate two years ago. He found the Student Senate was a way for him to make a difference on campus and to be a part of a community of people who had similar motivations. Lawson said she joined the Student Senate because she wanted to make sure every voice was heard and was interested in “creating a safe and positive environment on campus.”

If elected, the Proctor-Lawson campaign aims to keep faculty and student involvement in legislation. “We hope to continue advocating for the needs of our diverse student body and collaboratively work with both students and faculty to do so,” Lawson said. 

According to Proctor, the pair will meet with faculty to “ensure the University has the resources and capacity to adequately support all of the students here.”

Proctor and Lawson said they are determined to make the GVSU campus a community where everyone feels at home.

“I would love to begin work to create a more vibrant and energetic campus community,” Proctor said. 

On Monday, March 18, the Student Senate is holding a “Meet the Candidates” event where students will be able to learn more about the specific campaigns of other individuals running for student government. This event will take place in the Kirkhof Center, and attendees will receive a free donut. 

Student Senate has weekly General Assembly meetings every Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Room 2204 in the Kirkhof Center. Voting for new senators is open from March 18 through March 25. Voting information is available on the Student Senate’s page on the GVSU website. To keep up with the Student Senate race, visit the Student Senate’s Instagram. 

They discussed areas of reorganization and new safety implementations at Grand Valley State University.

“On behalf of public safety, I am really pleased to be able to come here to have a conversation with you about what your police department does for you while you’re here on the campuses,” DeHaan said, addressing the assembly.

GVPD is working to create new safety measures that cater to the growing number of students at GVSU. DeHaan and O’Donnell’s presentation at the Student Senate meeting outlined the safety department’s initiatives and progress toward those goals. DeHaan said GVSU’s dispatch area is “one of the most robust within the state of Michigan.”

“When you take a look at what we have created here in Grand Valley, we have over 1,700 (security) cameras. These are security cameras operated by individuals that are working 24/7,” DeHaan said. “(With) what happened over at Michigan State (the active shooter on Feb. 13), those folks had no one operating those cameras, they did not have the ability to contact and move forward at a rapid pace.” 

DeHaan said the increase in GVSU campus residency at the beginning of the fall semester caused an expansion of GVPD’s jurisdiction. “On-campus” students housed in Campus West apartments means GVPD has allocated new resources to “put in security cameras over there,” according to DeHaan.

“We put a significant amount of dollars and cents into putting security cameras (at Campus West) because these are students that are living on ‘campus property’ and we want to ensure that they have the same rights and privileges as anyone living on campus here,” DeHaan said.

Following the MSU tragedy on Feb. 13, O’Donnell, DeHaan and GVSU President Philomena Mantella put together a safety briefing in a virtual broadcast that is posted to the GVSU Public Safety page. The briefing gave an overall idea of how the university and GVPD plan to respond to both public and safety concerns and active shooters.

DeHaan said other universities are looking to GVSU and GVPD as a positive example.

“Frankly, folks, we’ve had a number of schools come out here at Grand Valley, including MSU, to see what we are doing in response to any active or critical incidents here on the campus,” DeHaan said. “We have become a standard, our camera system, using the visual eye camera system, that is the third largest within the United States.”

O’Donnell said GVSU’s Department of Public Safety is working on GVSU’s “clickable,” a new safety system students can use if danger arises at GVSU. 

“What we want to do is get this clickable right in (students’) hands, this is about 85 percent done. We’re still working with marketing, they have some of the diagnostics that it’s got to be able to take 20,000 bits per second or such, because if everyone uses it at the same time it needs to be able to take those hits,” O’Donnell said.

Additionally, Laker Guardian is a resource that is already accessible to people at GVSU. The emergency call button can send an immediate alert to GVPD with one click, providing the user’s information and GPS location to GVPD.

“It doesn’t give us your information until you hit that button or your timer expires. If you have those two things happen, we know where you’re at, it gives us your GPS location,” O’Donnell said. “We’ll call you and say, ‘Hey, this is University Police. Your Guardian is activated. Are you safe right now?’ It’s a panic button, it’s a timer system, you can text with emergencies, and you can stay anonymous if you want to stay anonymous.”

Through extensive training, thorough research and state-of-the-art security technology, the Department of Public Safety and GVPD aims to create a safe environment for all students, faculty and staff in the GVSU community.

Following the election of the new Student Body President Quinten Proctor, the Student Senate is primarily focused on the restructuring of the Student Senate body as they enter the 2023 fall semester.

Student Senate said the primary focus for this semester is to not concentrate on new legislation and issues, but to tackle internal tasks like restructuring following the election of Proctor and other roles on the senate.

“Generally, this semester will be spent working to set up a new and improved Student Senate for success in the future,” Proctor said.

The organization is still trying to fill unoccupied positions after many members left at the end of the winter semester last year. The senate closed applications on Sept. 8 and are anticipating over 30 applications to fill open spots. 

The Sept. 7 meeting began with electing Zuriel Johnson to be the Educational Affairs Vice President with no objections, then moved to ongoing senate projects, open positions and the restructuring plan for the year. 

Proctor said the senate has been “connecting with officials” over the past week and are in a “prep phase” for the new semester. Next week, Proctor anticipates that the restructuring process will officially begin. 

Proctor then moved into goals for the restructuring plan for fall 2023. Generally, the points of action the senators brought up included broadening representation, improving student perspective, increasing visibility, implementing the best possible practices and making the Student Senate experience more fun.

“The biggest challenge comes from the fact that there are not many returning senators from previous years, so we collectively have less experience than usual,” Proctor said. “This makes it somewhat difficult to get the ball rolling as I am still settling into my new position as president, and I’m also working on coaching our new cabinet members as they transition into their positions, while we also acquaint our brand new senators and eventually our new appointees with Student Senate.”

Additionally, after last year’s discussions surrounding funding and student wages, Proctor said he anticipates “taking a look at” internal senate budget. Proctor discussed a temporary stipend increase for the cabinet and a stipend increase for general senators. 

The senate stated they are not as focused on events this semester. The senate has temporarily paused external relations, removed guest speakers at the meetings for the semester and may reduce the timeframe of meetings. The senate does plan to keep the public comment section, though it was up for discussion in the future.

The senate hopes to create more time for restructuring by attending essential events and by not passing any new legislation this semester. Proctor said even though the senate would have less new legislation, he still maintains goals to continue with previous, ongoing legislation.

“I plan to continue working with the university on implementing legislation we’ve passed before, including our initiative on interfaith rooms on campus, as well as our initiative on student wages,” Proctor said.

Beyond restructuring, discussions centered voter engagement and other ongoing projects.

Student Senate finalized the 9/11 memorial event. Taking place 22 years ago, 9/11 is a solemn day of remembrance for the victims, survivors and first responders that experienced firsthand the terrorist attack that claimed over 2,000 American lives. GVSU intends to honor these individuals, as discussed by the Student Senate, with attendees placing American flags on the Kirkhof Center lawn to honor the victims and survivors of the tragedy.

Construction on the bridge started at the beginning in May. The changes followed a long standing petition that urged for new safety features around the bridge.

The Little Mac Bridge is located on GVSU’s Allendale campus. The bridge connects Henry Hall to the Great Lakes Plaza, is 230 foot long and spans over a 70 foot deep ravine. The bridge was previously made up of just the bridge base and side railings which were approximately five feet high. 

According to GVSU’s summer construction projects map, bridge construction was projected to take around three months. Construction involved removing the previous side railings and adding different railings to create a fenced, house-like structure surrounding the bridge. 

The petition that sparked the changes was created on Dec. 12, 2021 by two senior students, Logan Congdon and Reagan McLaughlin, following the suicide of a freshman student, Quinn Campbell, on Dec. 9, 2021. The petition specifically asks for safety netting below the bridge to prevent such incidents from occurring again. 

In the petition, Congdon terms this safety measure a “suicide barrier.” This was not the first suicide that has occurred on the bridge and Langdon and McLaughlin expressed their concerns for students who struggle with suicidal ideation.

“Horrifically, Quinn is not the first Laker to end their life on the ‘Little Mac’ bridge, and if we do not do something, he will not be the last. How many more students will pause on that bridge with thoughts of ending their life?  How can we as a campus prevent a tragedy like this one from repeating itself?” Congdon said. 

The petition received over 35,000 signatures in support of the cause. On Mar. 3, 2022, GVSU Student Senate passed a bill to “consider creating a safety barrier or net on the ‘Little Mac’ bridge.” 

According to a WoodTV article, there was some initial concern about the bridge being able to support the weight of any additional construction. Jenny Hall-Jones, GVSU’s vice president of Student Affairs, said this was something the senate had taken into consideration.

“It’s to just make sure if we were going to put some extra weight on the bridge, if we wanted to do some bridge mitigation, could we even do it if we wanted to?” Hall-Jones said. 

On Aug. 22 this year, Congdon shared a post to the petition sharing his joy about the bridge construction.

“I’m indescribably grateful and enthralled that it’s come to fruition at last,” Congdon said. “This is proof – lasting change often takes time, effort and a non-linear journey to the destination, but if enough voices come together, it is possible.” 

The bridge reconstruction was completed by the end of the first week of GVSU’s 2023 fall semester. However, the construction caused some interference with move-in and foot-traffic flow for some students during the first week of classes. 

Undergraduate senior Elyse Karasinksi said the construction of the bridge aligning with classes did affect her travel time between classes. 

“I only have a 10 minute slot to get from (Lake) Huron (Hall) to Mackinac (Hall), so when they were still painting it, it was crammed and people were walking really slow,” Karasinski said.

Karasinski thinks the bridge was a good idea for the school as a whole and believes it does not take anything away from its beauty. 

“I definitely think it was a good idea. It definitely makes me feel safer, and I don’t think it took away from the beauty of walking over the bridge at all either. You can still see through it, it’s still very much beautiful to walk on it,” Karasinski said.