Restructuring LBC Senate a top priority
The organization's board also stressed keeping up relationships with MSA and Four Front.
Published April 6, 2010
Internal restructuring and strengthening relevancy are the top priorities of the new Legion of Black Collegians executive board.
President-elect Lisa White, who serves as vice president, said strengthening the Senate is a main component of achieving the board's goals.
"I'm kind of in limbo right now," White said. "I'm looking forward to our Senate applications to make them stronger, to get the seats filled and keep them filled throughout the semester, but it's nothing drastic. We still want it to be open for other members to come."
Of the students who apply, those selected will act as the voting party, but other students are still welcome to come to meetings and express their views on issues up for a vote.
White said having a student voice present when voting and drafting legislation is an important factor in increasing relevancy.
"I just want everybody to feel like we're the source to come talk to if they have an issue," White said. "I know that a lot of times there are issues that come up regarding people's race, and I want to make sure we're still that pressing and driving force on such issues."
In addition to the senator application process, White said maintaining a level of transparency between the executive board and the Senate is important. White wants the Senate to be updated on progress the board makes on pertinent issues.
"A lot of time the executive members do a lot of work, but if something is happening, we want to make sure we have all of the information before we present it to Senate," White said. "We want to make sure they have the right information every time. This time around we want to make sure they know every step of the way on what we've been working on."
Political Chairwoman Whitney Williams, who was re-elected to the position, said she plans on using her position to increase LBC's campus presence as well. One of her primary job requirements is to keep LBC informed on political issues affecting the organization.
"As political chairwoman I am usually head of keeping the senators abreast of issues that happen on campus, locally and nationally," Williams said. "I am also in charge of putting on politically-related events like forums."
Forums are planned to correlate with relevant political issues. Williams said she estimates the next forum would focus on the Missouri House and Senate elections.
Regarding The List of Demands submitted by LBC to the administration several years ago, Williams said she plans to make sure the next board follows through on issues still not addressed or resolved.
Another responsibility of Williams will be maintaining relationships between LBC and other student governments, including the Missouri Students Association and Four Front.
"The relationship between LBC and MSA is a lot closer than people think it is," Williams said. "We just want to make sure we're heard by MSA. We're still kind of under them, so we want to make sure our opinions are heard in MSA, but the relationship has been pretty good for discussion and open dialogue."
Pertaining to Four Front, Williams described the two organizations as going through a phase of rebuilding.
"One of my goals for next year is to make sure we get somebody interested in both of the organizations to work with both," Williams said.