The Undergraduate Student Congress recognized Women’s History Month, established a campus safety survey, expelled a member, extended its reservable offices system for student organizations and passed a resolution to update scholar recognition initiatives at its Tuesday evening meeting.
During the special orders section of the meeting, Student Government Association President Avery Dunlap addressed congress about assuming the role of president and what she plans to do with her time in office.
Dunlap previously served as vice president to former SGA President Carter Strickland, who became the first SGA president to be impeached in university history on March 25. Strickland announced his resignation on April 5.
“I first want to assure you that I will be acting in transparency throughout my administration. I'll be inclusive in discussions, assignments and projects to the SGA to accomplish work for our student body,” Dunlap said.
SGA President Avery Dunlap addresses the Undergraduate Student Congress on April 8 in Dale Hall.
Dunlap said her top priority is rebuilding the culture of SGA, specifically within the executive branch, into one of trust, accountability and collaboration.
“I want to encourage us all in this time of transition to remember why we're here. We were all elected to serve our student body. I am excited to work and dig into civic engagement, student belonging and student services,” Dunlap said. “I really want to refocus our attention back to those issues after the past couple weeks.”
Dunlap said although she is committed to taking on the presidency, she is still adjusting to new responsibilities.
“I am prepared, but not quite ready. Moving forward, I ask for grace and patience. I know what's expected of me, and I will fulfill the duties of this office, but as with anything, there is a learning curve.”
Dunlap said she looks forward to serving as SGA president and working alongside the Undergraduate Student Congress as a collective voice to serve students.
“SGA was designed to amplify the student voice and also develop and protect the student experience in the short eight months that I have in this position, I hope to do just that,” Dunlap said.
Conoco Student Leadership Center
The news: The Conoco Student Leadership Center Pilot Program Extension Act of 2025 extended the pilot program for the second and third floors of the Archie W. Dunham-Conoco Student Leadership Center, where registered student organization offices were located until the decision to make the spaces reservable in April 2024. Student organizations have been able to use the space since Feb. 19 and reserve any of the 20 multi-use rooms via Engage since March 3.
At the end of the 2025-26 school year, the SGA Space Allocation Committee shall evaluate how the spaces have been used following the pilot period and will choose whether to continue the program based on student feedback and space usage.
What they’re saying: Chief of Staff Ellie Wolthius, who co-authored the bill with Dunlap, said they wanted to extend the pilot period because the spaces were opened much later in the year than anticipated due to the renovation process.
Wolthius said they have watched if RSOs are using the space during the brief window since renovations finished, and have been checking students are using the spaces at the times they reserved them.
“It's all very, very early data, and we're still waiting to get that feedback to really push out the RSOs,” Wolthius said.
Wolthius said the program was initially implemented to reduce wasted space and provide a meeting space for student groups that may not have had the opportunity previously.
“A lot of the offices did not get used,” Wolthius said. “No one was ever in them. So the space had kind of gone to waste.”
Following the initial decision to make the offices reservable, various students expressed discontent that they were not consulted about the decision, and felt it was unfair the first floor of the building, where SGA offices are located, were not affected.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 34-0-0.
Encouraging scholar recognition updates
The news: The Scholars Walk Revival Resolution explained various ways scholarship recipients have gone unrecognized in recent years. The bill encouraged the university to update its public-facing scholarship recipient webpage, which has not been updated since 2016.
The bill also called for the OU President’s Office to initiate and oversee the revival of the South Oval’s Scholars Walk, including the addition of missing honorees dating back to 2019, and to establish a sustainable annual update process going forward. The bill encouraged the university to assign responsibility for Scholars Walk maintenance to a designated body such as the Honors College, the Office of the President or the Office of University Advancement, in collaboration with nationally competitive scholarship advisors. Copies of the bill will be sent to university and Oklahoma leaders.
What they’re saying: Associate Saniya Shibu, who authored the bill with associate Aaron Lim, said despite that a number of students are eligible to be featured on the Scholar’s Walk, they have yet to be included.
“(The Scholar’s Walk) hasn't been updated since 2019. There's been about 30 plus students from the University of Oklahoma that have received one of these competitive scholarships, and there's not any plaques,” Shibu said. “These students aren't being acknowledged for their high achievement.”
Lim said reviving these programs will encourage even more high achievement from students.
“We're here to urge the Office of the President to revive the scholars walk project and to honor these students, and of course, have the current student body be motivated to pursue these national, prestigious awards,” Lim said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 34-0-0.
Recognizing Women’s History Month
The news: The bill titled “Women’s History Month of 2025” officially acknowledged the month of March as Women’s History Month by SGA. Copies of the bill — which encourages students to take advantage of the month of March to learn more about Women’s History and gender disparities — will be sent to the OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., Vice President for Access and Opportunity Belinda Hyppolite, OU student media and various student organizations.
What they’re saying: Rep. Lilian Higareda Castillo, who co-authored the bill with associate Lily Mosisa, asked congress members to reflect on how women have personally impacted their lives.
“Women's contributions are woven into our society and history, and with this concurrent resolution, we aim to acknowledge the importance of the celebration and recognition of Women's History Month,”Higareda Castillo said.
Mosisa said the resolution is not just about honoring women, but also standing with those who continue to fight for equality.
“Gender discrimination remains a reality, affecting access to education, economic opportunities, healthcare, research and safety. In the US, women still earn about 83 cents for every dollar a man earns.”
During time for questions, Rep. Syed Aslam asked the authors if they thought some of the statistics included in the bill lacked context.
Higareda Castillo said it was possible, but that she wanted to acknowledge income inequality. Higareda Castillo included that she referred to past women’s history resolutions and they had similar statistics.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 32-1-0. Aslam voted against the resolution. Rep. Thomas Richardson was not in the room during the vote.
Establishing safety survey
The news: The Safety of OU Survey Act of 2025 established a survey under the SGA to assess current safety measures and explore potential improvements to enhance nighttime security and support services.
The survey will ask students to rate how safe they feel on campus at night, identify which areas they find the least safe, share how they've responded to perceived danger and reflect on campus safety resources.
Responses to the survey will be collected from March 24 to April 24 anonymously. The survey will be distributed via Qualtrics, OU’s mass mail system, fliers and social media platforms.
What they’re saying: Rep. Ben Keupen, who authored the bill, said the goal of the survey is to collect honest feedback about nighttime safety, evaluate the awareness and use of safety resources and identify specific areas for improvement, like lighting security, presence or transportation.
“The results will help guide future advocacy and policy decisions,” Keupen said. “Just by passing this bill, we're taking a proactive step to ensure a safer campus for everyone.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 34-0-0.
Member Expulsion
The news: The Session 113 Expulsion Bill No. 3 expelled associate Lauren Stubbs from her position due to excessive unexcused absences. Secretary Chloe Harris said Stubbs was a member of the human diversity committee and has not been to any meetings.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 34-0-0.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure.
