Members of the Freshman Leadership Council flooded the Student Senate floor Tuesday night with an outpouring of concern about a bill that would have combined the group with other student outreach programs on campus.
Student Body President-elect Ben Meyers and Vice President-elect Anthony Reynolds, members of the Unite Party, tried to explain that the bill would not get rid of FLC.
Reynolds said the proposed New Student Outreach would combine FLC with a proposed transfer student outreach.
FLC is an SG cabinet composed of about 50 freshmen students who plan events for the UF and Gainesville communities, as well as introduce members to the ins and outs of SG.
Senators and FLC members alike expressed their concern about whether or not the bill could lead to drastic changes to how the council is run and organized.
After an amendment was made to the bill, which kept FLC a singular entity and not part of a new cabinet, it passed unanimously.
Student Body President Ashton Charles, Vice President Marcus Dixon and Senator Christina Bonarrigo, all representatives of the Unite Party, wrote the amendment that let FLC remain exactly the same.
“If it’s not broken, why should we break it?” argued Bonnarrigo during public debate.
TJ Villamil, the Student Body treasurer-elect, stood against the bill.
He said he feared FLC would not function identically as it had if the bill was passed.
“You know how important it is,” he said. ”I’m not convinced that FLC will be the same.”
Charles had to run across campus in heels to make the meeting, but still missed the unanimous vote.
She was very excited to hear that the bill was passed with the amendment.
“Glad that the senators were able to do the right thing tonight,” she said after the meeting.
Dixon said he hoped the new student leaders would see how large and beneficial FLC is by itself.
Also during the meeting, Villamil presented the new SG budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The SG budget totals to about $16.7 million in activity and services fees, which are paid by all students.
The SG budget funds SG organizations, the Reitz Union and UF RecSports.
