The Associated Student Body held its annual Socialize with Senators Night on Sept. 12. The event, which broke from tradition by taking place in the Student Union Plaza instead of within senate chambers, sought to capture student attention in a way it has failed to do in the past.
Camryn Rios, a junior public policy leadership major and current religious and spiritual organizations senator, explained that the idea to change the location of the event and to incorporate activities such as games, music, dancing and free food was inspired by similar events held by the Student Activities Association.
“I think we realized that their activities on the Union Plaza get a lot more student engagement in the past few years,” Rios said. “And since we haven’t had any student engagement when it’s been inside the union, we figured we’d bring it out here.”
ASB Vice President Mason Greenwald said the changes were meant to target beliefs among that student body that ASB is “culty” and “cliquey.”
“Our goal tonight was to be more inclusive, share pizza with people rather than just senators, have a good time and make the students feel more connected to ASB,” Greenwald said.
The event also comes on the heels of a discovery that the ASB Student Issues Form, the primary avenue for students to voice their concerns, was not operational during the last academic year. While submitted forms are required to be read aloud during senate meetings, the faulty form left many student voices unheard.
In response to the development, ASB President Sara Austin Welch said that the online form has undergone significant changes in design to make the forms more accessible. Welch said that the student resource, now listed as the ASB Senate Opinion Form, is functional again.
“Our Secretary Department has done a fantastic job, so we are hopeful for no problems like that this year,” Welch said. “If it ever has a technical difficulty, I hope that we get it solved immediately because there’s really no reason we shouldn’t be reading them every single time.”
In addition to repairing the opinion form, ASB is pursuing new ways of connecting with the student body.
“First and foremost, you need to know about ASB in order to get your problems addressed,” Greenwald said. “We are planning on going to EDHE classes on campus and giving presentations about ASB. We think this will make freshmen aware of ASB and make it seem more accessible.”
Yasmine Ware, a sophomore majoring in international studies and Chinese, is preparing for her first year as a senator in ASB. She echoed the sentiments of ASB leadership, explaining, “ASB is an opportunity for students to have their voice not only shared but have legislation passed to amplify it.”
She also offered an explanation for why she believes ASB is so important for students on campus.
“Ole Miss is very diverse in terms of thought and socioeconomic status, and there’s just so many students with nuanced opinions. I think ASB works to bring those all together and make sure that the student body, no matter where they are from, has a voice,” Ware said.
Socialize with Senators seemed to achieve its purpose, as students were impressed with ASB’s organization of the event. Some students also said they believe this year’s ASB will be able to represent them and handle their concerns despite the previous year’s technological difficulties.
“I think if they fixed the problem then it shows they took it seriously,” Aniya Lewis, a freshman African American studies major said. “I really like this event, and it made me want to join ASB next year.”
