Students strike down constitution referendum
Published April 30, 2004
The Missouri Students Association referendum to revise its constitution failed with 62.2 percent of students voting to revise the constitution, according to unofficial results. The referendum required a two-thirds vote to pass. The total number of votes cast was 1,279.
Greg Chase, Board of Elections Commissioners chairman and bill co-sponsor, said he was disappointed the referendum did not pass.
"It's unfortunate," he said. "A lot of hard work was put into this. I'm sure this will be something that comes up again. It does give us some time to look at the things we need to look at."
If passed, the referendum would have approved a revision to the constitution allowing MSA to restructure the Senate without a student vote, among other changes. The BEC will certify the results next week.
Operations Committee Chairwoman Amy Engelkenjohn also said she was disappointed.
"If this is what the students want then it's our job to listen to that," she said. "Unless I'm given direct orders from the speaker, I will not pursue restructuring as long as I'm operations chair."
Engelkenjohn said she would spend the rest of her time as chairwoman discussing issues that more immediately affect students.
"We need to address Senate retention rates and making sure students understand what Senate does," she said.
Senate Speaker Damon Ferlazzo said he would not ask Engelkenjohn to continue looking into restructuring Senate.
"As the former Operations Chair, we worked on it for a long time," he said. "It's been something that's been worked on for five years. A lot of people are burned out on that issue. Restructuring is important, but a lot in the committee feel they haven't done enough for constituent concerns."