The Student Federation approved the establishment of three new clubs and made an amendment to its constitution regarding election qualifications at last week’s meeting.
Liberty Battalion, the Physical Therapy Club, and the Formal Logic Club were all given initial club status due to growing interest and faculty support. At the end of the meeting, Student Fed members voted on a proposed amendment to their constitution to clarify ambiguous phrasing, opening opportunities for qualified sophomores to be elected for president or treasurer, and accommodating for the mismatched election seasons for representatives from fraternities.
“The main things this amendment does are that it makes officer races more competitive, it accommodates irregular terms on the Federation, and it allows more students to become Federation officers,” senior and Student Fed Secretary Thomas Ryskamp said in an email. “More competition will ensure that the Federation has competent officers, and students from all the Greek houses can become officers no matter how their terms line up.”
The section regarding Greek members on the original proposal sought to establish a proxy measurement for a complete semester, and the Federation discussed its consequences at length. The Rules Committee had provided an alternative provision that proposed students currently serving on the Federation in the fall semester be allowed to run for an officer position in November.
Senior and Student Fed Vice President Kolbe Conger moved to replace the recommended section with the alternative, arguing that these representatives should have the opportunity to become officers.
Ryskamp then moved to amend Conger’s amendment to include both measurements, stating that “not including the four-months provision creates a different anomaly of the same kind.”
Ryskamp’s amendment to Conger’s amendment passed without dissent. Ryskamp argued against Conger’s amendment, which eventually passed with a 10-5 vote.
They then discussed the original amendment, now modified by Conger’s and Ryskamp’s amendments. The change to their constitution was passed by an 8-6 vote.
Ryskamp explained that the change will allow for more competition.
“There will probably be more students running for officer positions and fewer uncontested races, so students will have more influence with their votes,” Ryskamp said. “It makes it easier for Greek students to become Federation officers, even if their term as representative doesn’t completely line up with that of the independents.”
Before the amendment can be finalized, it must be receive a vote from two-thirds of the student body and be approved by college President Larry Arnn. The amendment will not take effect until next fall.
The first half of the meeting was dedicated to granting club status.
Senior Adam Buchmann represented Liberty Battalion. He said in an email that the club was formed to help provide resources to students pursuing military careers after graduation.
“There was a lack of military education and instruction here at Hillsdale,” Buchmann said. “Liberty Battalion aims to fill that void of war-fighting instruction by educating and familiarizing the student body so that those Hillsdale College graduates, who honorably aspire to serve their country, will be better equipped to successfully protect and defend the goodness, truth, and beauty that the United States and Hillsdale College embody.”
Senior Kyle Huitt, representing the Formal Logic Club, said that the new club will stand to benefit students interested in philosophy, math, and rhetoric and logic.
“We can’t really wait for future years for the department to create a course, so instead we decided to make our training in formal logic extracurricular,” Huitt said in an email. “All nerds in general are welcome to come and learn about the valuable ways in which formal logic can discipline your mind to process things and argue clearly.”