The University of Rhode Island student senate discussed debate and decorum at their general assembly meeting on Wednesday night, addressing the issues regarding last week’s meeting about the constitution. 

During the special orders section of the agenda, Speaker of the Assembly Ryan Niro said that there is animus in the senate that was on display at last week’s meeting. 

“We are not supposed to be attacking the man,” Niro said. “It’s the motion.”

Niro said that he wants to establish a framework for decorum and debate at the general assembly meetings. 

“How do we create a framework where everybody’s feeling like they have an opportunity to speak?” Niro said. 

Campus Affairs Committee Chair Sebastian Rosa said that student representatives were elected to the senate under the presumption that they would speak their minds at meetings. 

“We should stop with the notion that senators are just wallflowers,” Rosa said. “How are we going to get the people on this body that do not want to speak up to speak up?”

On-campus senator Caroline MacKenzie said that as a new member of senate, she was hesitant to speak up at early meetings in the semester. As part of meeting conduct, she said that the senators should limit their use of technology to stay engaged during meetings. 

Moving forward, the senators said that senate bonding and identifying their common purpose will improve the efficiency of meetings. 

“We need to remain respectful in this space in order to effectively get things done,” Jackson Troxell, chair of the academic affairs committee, said. 

The meeting began with Student Organizations Chair Arpan Singh reminding senators that the Presidents’ Meeting taking place on Thursday will cover the new student organizations manual, hazing policy and finances. There will also be a presidents’ meeting for affiliate clubs and organizations on Nov. 5. 

The academic affairs committee will have a booth on Friday where they will also be launching the academic feedback form, according to Melanie Capraro, vice chair of the academic affairs committee.

External Affairs Committee Chair Isabella Conte discussed the status of their school supply donation, along with sharing information about meeting with the South Kingstown Police Department. 

“I have a meeting with the chief of police of South Kingstown on Nov. 10 regarding people getting towed,” Conte said. “I have the parking meeting on Monday, so I’ll have more updates after that.”

The campus affairs committee is doing a Thanksgiving food drive that will be donated to the Rhody Outpost food pantry. 

“We believe on our committee that this is a simple, yet effective way to address food insecurity resulting over a new dining policy,” Rosa said. “I do believe that this is an important issue for our community.”

Voting will end on Friday at 5 p.m. for elections of first-year senators, according to Capraro. 

Next Wednesday’s meeting will have the graduate student associations’ president and vice president as guest speakers, and will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Union Room 300.