In its first session of the spring semester, the Student Senate passed a resolution honoring President George H.W. Bush for his service to the country.
Speaker Pro-Tempore Tate Banks introduced the resolution with a moment of silence for the former president. “George H.W. Bush exhibited intense patriotism for his state and country,” the resolution read. “[T]he Student Senate will forever remember the life of President George H.W. Bush and his lifelong patriotism and public service.”
Adel Quntar, diversity and inclusion chair, and Abdullah Abu Aljamal, representative from Amnesty International, presented the “I Welcome” resolution, declaring support for refugees, which the Student Senate passed. The resolution read, “[t]he student body of Texas A&M welcomes refugees to College Station and declares its support for refugees no matter their religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation or country of origin.”
The Student Senate also passed a resolution expressing support for Single Gender Organizations (organizations that only accept applicants from one gender, like a sorority), presented by  Constituency Affairs Chair Colton Mandel, and Finance Chair Mathew Walther.
The resolution was proposed in response to Harvard College’s decision, which “imposed restrictions on participants in single gender social organizations (SGSOs) that prevent them from being able to captain sports teams, lead campus groups, or accept the prestigious Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.”
Lastly, the Student Senate passed a resolution presented by the organization Reinstate the Rivalry, which called for adding the question “Do you support reinstating the Texas A&M University vs. University of Texas rivalry game on our non-conference football schedule?” to the Student Body Election ballot in February.

Justin Tippy, transit manager for A&M transportation services, updated the Student Senate on changes the university is making to bus routes in the fall of 2019. The Transportation department has received the BUILD grant from the Brazos Transit District to purchase 20 new buses – three of them electric – to replace aged buses.
Tippy also informed the Student Senate of the consolidation of several bus routes. Routes 34 and 40S will be combined into one route, serviced by three buses with 15 minute headways. Routes 03 and 09 will be combined into one route, where five buses will provide six minute headways.
Tina Budzise-Weaver, Humanities and Social Science Librarian, and Thomas Sullivan, associate professor at West Campus Library, informed the Student Senate about the University Libraries’ Open Educational Materials Awards, which are awards for professors who attempt to use as many free textbooks and materials in their classes as possible. Students vote for professors who ensure access to open educational resources, whether online or through the University Libraries.
The goal of the award program is to reward professors who save students money.
“We flipped Biology 111 to an open access textbook, and we saved those students 600,000 dollars,” Budzise-Weaver said. “We’re about to flip an entry level psychology class, and that class has over 7,000 students. We’re going to save them over a million dollars.”
Kassandra Corona was sworn in as the Student Government Association’s new diversity commissioner after a unanimous vote in her favor.