The University of Rhode Island student senate passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a legal retainer for undergraduate students and approved funding for the URI Powerlifting Club in a meeting Wednesday.
The resolution urges the university to secure legal counsel with experience in immigration law to support undergraduate students, international and immigrant students who may face legal uncertainty.
“The [resolution] is the reaffirmation that we have put value into our student body and we believe that there is something worth protecting about our students,” Cultural Affairs Chair Kairy Gonzalez said. “Just reiterating our obligation is to our constituents.”
During discussion, the senators stated that a legal retainer, an agreement that gives students ongoing access to a lawyer, would provide a clearer support system for students in time-sensitive situations. It would be more robust than pre-existing resources that primarily offer general guidance and referrals.
“No student should feel like [their] future can be disrupted simply by coming to class and campus,” Gonzalez said. “One of the most important parts of this bill is that the legal retainer specifically has experience in immigration law. Immigration cases are complex, they’re time-sensitive, they’re deeply tied to issues of due process in basic human rights.”
The senate approved the allocation of funds to go towards the URI Powerlifting Club, which has made tremendous strides in national collegiate level qualifiers according to Student Organizations Chair Jacob Milner.
“Over the years [the college team] has been able to compete at various competitions, including USA PL, which is a collegiate national competition,” Milner said. “Over the past two years we have consecutively gotten qualified for this amazing national challenge.
Gonzalez announced a poetry slam scheduled for Feb. 23 as well as a planned tarot card booth in the coming weeks.
“We’re [going to] be having a tarot card booth in the next week or two. I’ll discuss that more in detail next week,” Gonzales said. “The poetry slam is on the 23rd of February.”
Campus Affairs Chair Cameron Hudson raised concerns about snow removal and campus accessibility following recent snow showers.
“We want to somehow get the sidewalks more plowed, the area around the blue lights more plowed,” Hudson said. “Just in general in Rhode Island it just seems like the plowing has been not great and the road’s been blocked and covered in snow.”
The senate announced that its podcast committee will be inactive for the remainder of the semester due to scheduling conflicts among members.
The student senate will meet again on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Union Room 300.