Student Government Association set to poll students on revamped constitution

While many students have taken the opportunity to relax, work, or travel this summer, certain SGA members and faculty have been working to update and revise its constitution.

The Bethel College Administration Building — photo via newtonkansas.com

This summer, the Bethel College Student Government Association has crafted an updated SGA constitution that’s set to be approved by the student body via vote during the upcoming academic year.

This revamped constitution — which has been brewing for several years following a determination from ranking SGA members that the current constitution is no longer applicable to the student body — continues to endure a lengthy process ahead of its reveal to students.

“Our constitution is extremely outdated. It’s something that has been discussed for a while. But we decided it was time to quit talking and take action,” Tanner Wallace, Chief Justice of the Student Government Association and senior from Chickasha, Okla., said.

The process began last spring under former president Thomas Kucera and is now under the direction of newly-elected SGA President Taylor Dashney.

“It began with a small workgroup containing our advisor, the President, and Chief Justice,” Dashney, senior from Edmond, Okla., said. “It’s now beginning to work its way towards the executive branch.”

The committee — consisting of Dashney, Wallace, and SGA advisor Samantha Bond — is currently spearheading the new document’s path to finalization. When ready, it’ll be presented to the Senate for review.

While in this stage, the Senate will revise the document as they see fit. There’s no definite timeline for this step, but once it clears the Senate with changes, it’ll proceed to the student body for a final vote — which is currently set to occur in the fall of 2022 or spring of 2023.

“Once it’s ready to present to [and is approved by] the Senate … the voting process will commence,” Dashney said.

While there will likely be noticeable changes to the current SGA constitution and things will feel new, it’s important to note that this document is far from that. And with just five weeks of summer left, the organization plans to continue working towards preparing its updates for the student body to observe and approve. 

“All changes that will be made to the constitution are going to be based on the current document,” Wallace said. “This is an updated and revised document, not a brand new one.

We are very excited to officially announce this in the fall. It is going to be a long process and it is important to us to receive feedback from the student body.”