The University of Rhode Island student senate passed a series of bills on Wednesday to officially recognize student organizations such as the E-Commerce club, Diversity Dialogues, Model United Nations and the reassignment of all existing senate club sports.
The E-Commerce club was the first to become a senate-recognized student organization and provided with the first-year financial benefits package of $50, expected to be paid out over the course of the 2026 fiscal year.
“It’s a business related club [associated with] whatever you consider to be online shopping,” Chair Jacob Milner said. “But it’s about cultivating a community around the design of these sites.”
The Diversity Dialogues was the next to be recognized, an organization which aims to create a safe space for the discussion of difficult topics centered around social inequality, according to Kairy Gonzalez, student senate chair and vice president of Diversity Dialogues.
“We do workshops around campus, and we present them to other student organizations and sometimes faculty meetings,” Gonzalez said. “The workshops are more oriented towards DEI. One is called microaggressions, and others along those lines. We just kind of present them around campus so we can spread awareness.”
URI’s Model UN organization was also recognized by the senate and provided with the same first-year financial benefits package of $50.
All existing senate-recognized club sports were reassigned to fall under the umbrella of the Club Sports and Intramural Council in partnership with Campus Recreation and Club Sports.
CSIC is made up of 21 club sports teams on campus, nine of which went to nationals, according to John Butler Bassner, president of club sport council.
“CSIC, [is a] competitive recreational sports program for university students and is designed specifically for students to have a fun athletic experience where current needs are not met by other intramural programs,” Bassner said.
The student senate will meet again on Wednesday March 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Union Room 300.
