Referendum to revise ASWSU Constitution passes

From staff reports

Referendum 46-03, which gives student government leaders the title of “officer” to distinguish them from regular students at the university in the ASWSU Constitution, has passed with 19.1 percent of voters in favor.

Senate Pro Tempore Garvin Price, who wrote the referendum, said it will not change the Constitution, but will distinguish clarify to whom a section of it refers.

“Every undergraduate student is a member of ASWSU, period,” Price said. “There was not clarification between members and officers.”

The first amendment under Article X: Amendments in the Constitution, refers to members of ASWSU, meaning the ASWSU Senate. The next amendment refers to members of ASWSU but the end of the sentence implies it is referring to regular students at WSU.

The passing of this referendum mean all undergraduates attending the university will be referred to as members of ASWSU, and the students who are elected or appointed ASWSU officials will be referred to as “officers.”

This bylaw will be the first step in a series of future changes to improve ASWSU’s constitution, Price said.

“I was excited to see that it passed,” he said. “To see people said yes to it showed it was understood by the students, and will show clarity to the student body.”

Price said it could take about two weeks to revise the constitution to go along with the changes brought about by the referendum, as they want to be thorough in going over the document.

“Right now, the constitution works well, but it can be improved,” he said. “We really want to hold ourselves to the highest standards,” Price said.

Any WSU student can access the most recent version of the ASWSU Constitution through the ASWSU Senate’s CougSync page, along with bills, resolutions, minutes and other relevant documents.