The Undergraduate Student Congress passed 14 pieces of legislation at its Tuesday evening meeting, including proposed infrastructure, Crimson Leadership Association chair appointments, university departments advising, midterm exam regulations and behavioral misconduct procedures.
During the special orders section of the meeting, congress swore in its new members elected on April 1 and 2 and nominated members for congress chair, vice chair and secretary.
Rep. Caleb Robinson, university policy committee chair, and Rep. Jacob Schonfield, budgetary committee chair, were nominated for Congress chair.
Incumbent Vice Chair Aaron Gilson-Bond and Rep. Leo Carter were nominated for vice chair.
Associate Michael Wintory and Rep. Ava Burnett were nominated for secretary.
Appointing new members
The news: Session 113 Election Appointment Act appointed four individuals to Congress as representatives and two as associates. The bill appointed Parker Means, Cody Walker, Brocke Graham and Isaiah Wick as representatives. The bill also appointed Leonard Donovan and Elika Esfandiari as associates.
What they’re saying: Secretary Chloe Harris said these students were appointed because of their performance in previous elections.
“(This bill is) just appointing individuals to a representative and associate seat. This is based off of the election results too, so the people that ran in the election but they didn't get a seat for the spring, I had a seat open for the fall,” Harris said. “They lost by the best, which means that they got like sixth place out of only five seats.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 27-0-0.
Congress Chair Hope Rhoads swearing in new members to the Undergraduate Student Congress on April 15.
Recognizing senior congress member
The news: The Resolution Recognizing Congress Representative Shrey Kathuria recognized the continued hard work and leadership of Associate Shrey Kathuria, who, until this week, has served as a representative for the arts and sciences district since fall 2021. During his time within Congress, Kathuria has authored 15 pieces of legislation.
The resolution will be sent to OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students David Surratt, Director of Student Life and Assistant Dean of Students Quy Nguyen, OU Daily and OU Nightly.
The resolution was originally co-sponsored by ten other congress members, but during the meeting every congress member in attendance asked to be included as a co-sponsor.
What they’re saying: Graduate Student Senate Vice Chair Rin Ferraro, who authored the bill, said many of Kathuria’s bills helped celebrate and uplift different communities on campus.
“Shrey is always looking for ways to make OU more inclusive for all students, as well as make SGA more accessible and transparent for everyone,” Ferraro said. “I think he's a good model of how we can use student government to serve all students and help build ladders for others to succeed.”
Shrey Kathuria during the SGA Presidential and Vice Presidential Forum on Oct. 23. Up until April 15, Kathuria served as a representative for the arts and sciences district since fall 2021.
Kathuria said his Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Matters Resolution was a contender for his favorite piece of legislation he's written. Kathuria said the resolution was a response after the governor of Oklahoma banned universities from having DEI offices.
“I felt like it was time to have a stronger response, to show that we care about diversity, we care about equity, we care about inclusion, and that we're here to lift up all OU students and everybody, regardless of your race, regardless of your sexuality, regardless of your gender,” Kathuria said, “and just make sure everybody knows that they're welcome here.”
Kathuria was asked to share any advice he had for the incoming congress members.
“Do the work for the people. Because remember, it's not about you. It's about the everyday OU student who needs that opportunity to go out there and pursue excellence in the classroom and within the OU community,” Kathuria said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 30-0-0. This vote included the newly sworn-in representatives.
Proposing water fountains
The news: The Sustainable Water Bottle Resolution proposed more sustainable water usage on OU’s campus, including regular maintenance of water fountains and implementing touch-free water fountains in the National Weather Center and the Physical Sciences Center.
What they’re saying: Graduate Student Senate Sustainability Committee Secretary Abigail Triemstra, who authored the bill, said the bill is intended to encourage students to bring their own water bottles to negate negative environmental effects.
“It's just reducing the amount of single-use plastics that people use on campus,” Triemstra said. “If there are readily available water bottle fillers, they're less likely to go out and buy a single-use water bottle and throw it away.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 30-0-0.
Crimson Leadership Association chairs
The news: The Matin-Toyos Appointment Act named Zaber Matin and Rep. Alexandra Toyos as co-chairs for the Crimson Leadership Association for the 2025-2026 academic year.
What they’re saying: 2024-2025 Crimson Leadership Association Co-Chair Mercer Martin said she and Co-Chair Cal Smith selected Matin and Toyos for their great character.
“We just truly believe that they are going to be great leaders to the next class of CLA,” Martin said.
Smith said they've already seen Toyos’s and Matin’s leadership capacity in their engagement with Crimson Leadership Association.
“I believe they both have a deep heart for mentorship, which is the center of this role, and really having the ability to be … a warm and welcoming presence for all new freshmen on campus,” Smith said. “Plugging them into opportunities, but also taking the time to make sure they feel welcomed.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 31-0-0. Rep. Alexis Evans joined the meeting before this vote.
Red River Rivalry holiday
The news: The Red River Holiday Act of 2025 submitted Friday, Oct. 10 as the fall 2025 Student Holiday to the OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. for approval. Oct. 10 is the day before the OU-Texas football game, meaning classes will not be held with the intention to allow students to travel safely to the game without the stress of scheduling around school.
What they’re saying: Chief of Staff Ellie Wolthius said the Board of Regents manual allows SGA to allocate one holiday per year.
“In the past, during election years, … sometimes people discuss having Voting Day off, but tradition kind of sticks,” Wolthius said. “We love to have the Friday before OU-Texas off.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 31-0-0.
Amending search committee appointments
The news: The Search Committee Clarification Act amended the SGA Code Annotated to clarify the procedure for appointing individuals to search committees.
The act added a section to the Code Annotated which states that representatives to search committees must be nominated by the SGA president and approved by the chairs of the Undergraduate Student Congress and Graduate Student Senate.
In the articles of impeachment brought up against former SGA president Carter Strickland on March 25, author Aaron Gilson-Bond wrote that Strickland had not consulted Congress, nor his vice president or chief of staff, in selecting a member of his executive cabinet to a dean search committee.
What they’re saying: SGA President Avery Dunlap, who authored the bill with Wolthius and Rep. Kyle Martin, congressional administration committee chair, said the bill was meant to clarify the process for the future.
“This is protecting, just making sure that the president knows the expectations,” Dunlap said. “It protects future presidents from any confusion, and also future appointees to the dean search committees.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 31-0-0.
Advising testing center
The news: The Accommodated Testing Accessibility For All Act urges the OU Testing Center to remove their block scheduling system, which only allows students who need testing accommodations to schedule their tests at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m., rather than during the time scheduled by their instructor.
The resolution will be sent to various leaders within the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center and managers of the OU Testing Center.
What they’re saying: Rep. Shrey Kathuria, who authored the bill, said in his personal experience with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center and the OU Testing Center, he has been told by each department that this schedule is the other’s responsibility.
“The ADRC and the OU Testing Center (are) basically playing ping pong, in terms of who has the responsibility,” Kathuria said. “It feels like I'm watching a game of ping pong and all the OU students and faculty are losing.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 30-0-0. Rep. Kayla Hawley was not in the room during the vote.
Establishing disability resource survey
The news: The Accessibility and Disability Resource Center Improvement Resolution recognized improvement to the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center and established a survey to collect feedback on its operations.
The survey, which asks about student experiences with the department and certain policy suggestions, will be conducted anonymously until May 1.
What they’re saying: Rep. Lorelai Radzanowski, who authored the bill with Associate Gavin Phillips, said the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center has undergone significant improvement.
“I know a lot of you heard some negative views about the ADRC coming from the fall semester before the leadership change, but the ADRC has put a lot of work in, to not only change how people perceive them, but also how they function from within,” Radzanowski said.
Philips said the ADRC hopes to switch to a new processing system, Accessible Information Management, and that statistics from the survey would allow them to go forward with that goal.
“Because of the different experiences people have had, it's important to be able to get a wide array of those experiences,” Phillips said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 31-0-0.
Creating midterm exam regulations
The news: The Midterm Exam Per Day Limit Act of Spring 2025 enacted a limit of two midterm exams per day, defining a midterm exam as any exam or test between or during the third and 14th weeks of the semester and noted as a midterm exam or test in the course syllabus.
OU already has a final examination limit of two per day. The resolution will be sent to the Mark Morvant, senior vice provost for student success, Sarah Ellis, vice provost for faculty, and Faculty Senate Chair Lori Jervis.
What they’re saying: Rep. Coleman Morgan, who authored the bill, said Hawley knew students who had four or five rescheduled midterms in one day following a week of severe weather.
“That's ridiculous. I think we all know that there's no way anybody in this room should be expected to take five midterms in a day,” Morgan said. “Alleviating some stress, making life easier for people (is the) ultimate goal.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 31-0-0.
Amending budgetary procedures
The Budget Procedures Act of 2025, Budget Review Procedures Act of 2025 and SGA Non-Student Salaries Layout Act of 2025 were seen as a block, meaning they were presented and voted on by the body together.
The news: The Budget Procedures Act of 2025 amended the SGA Code Annotated to better reflect the financial practices already used regularly by congress.
The Budget Review Procedures Act of 2025 requires that within 24 hours of the conclusion of any budgetary committee meeting where funding allocation takes place, the budgetary committee chair must alert all registered student organizations who had a request considered in that meeting as to the status of their application. This allows the organizations the opportunity to appeal the funding before it is seen in either the Graduate Student Senate or the Undergraduate Student Congress. This bill also gave congressional leadership and the Graduate Student Senate the power to expel members of their respective budgetary committees.
The SGA Non-Student Salaries Layout Act of 2025 updated the Code Annotated to allow more flexibility with regard to the payment of the SGA Staff Assistant, the SGA Budget and Account Representative, and OU Student Legal Services Staff Attorney. It also removed the obsolete position of SGA Poll Operator.
What they’re saying: Schonfield, who authored the bill, said he did a lot of reorganizing and maintenance work to update the Code Annotated.
“The SGA Staff Assistant and the SGA Budget and Account Representative are both real life employees who should be getting raises every year, and if we have their salaries listed in the Code Annotated, … we're in violation of reality whenever we're not updating it every single year to reflect what they're actually being paid,” Schonfield said.
Schonfield said before this bill, there was not a helpful system for removing ways and means committee members due to inability to complete their jobs.
“Seeing as (ways and means) is pretty important, I think it's pretty important that we do have a process,” Schonfield said. “I think it would be done more efficiently with it this way.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved these bills with a vote of 31-0-0.
Outlining member removal due to misconduct
The news: The Behavioral Misconduct Removal Act outlined the process for which members of congress can be removed due to behavioral misconduct. Before this bill was passed, the only way for a congress member to be expelled from the body was due to absences.
The bill explains the process for how the congress executive committee will deal with official complaints of misconduct and provides definitions for four different types of behavioral infractions — minor, moderate, severe and automatic expulsion. Each infraction results in the member receiving a certain number of infraction points. If a member receives 15 points, an expulsion bill for that member may be written and seen in congress.
Minor infractions include mild unprofessional behavior. Moderate infractions include instances of hate speech, verbal altercations and unauthorized use of SGA resources. Severe infractions include bullying, harassment, intimidation, abuse of power, disrupting official school or SGA functions, acts of dishonesty and engaging in criminal activity. Automatic expulsion infractions include physical violence, credible threats of violence and any action that results in suspension or expulsion from the university.
What they’re saying: Rep. Cody Walker, who authored the bill, said it wasn't targeted at anyone, but instead covered a topic that had not been included in the Undergraduate Student Congress bylaws until now.
“I would hope that this would be part of the thought process when someone makes a bad decision, that they might be reprimanded,” Walker said. “I hope that people don't make bad decisions overall.”
Walker said the infraction points reset every semester to maintain fairness and account for changing opinions as congress positions change.
“I’m trying to make this to where it favors the accused person,” Walker said. “I think this was just to be fair, to be representative.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 30-0-0. Rep Hayden Bertotti was not in the room during the vote.
Opposing state gun law changes
The news: The Campus Safety Resolution of 2025 encouraged the Oklahoma legislature to maintain current laws regulating weapons on campus. Oklahoma law currently allows universities to make their own rules regarding firearms on campus.
The resolution will be sent to the Board of Regents, Harroz, Surratt and OU Police Chief Nate Tarver.
What they’re saying: External affairs committee chair Marilou Bento said that guns do not belong on or near a university campus.
“This legislation just reminds the legislature that keeping guns off of campus is the most effective way to reduce gun violence on campuses,” Bento said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 30-0-0. Bertotti did not vote.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure.
