Student Government voted to change by-law language to foster a more gender-inclusive atmosphere at their Wednesday meeting.

Sen. Sandeep Stanley introduced a bill to change the language of their bylaws to make it more gender inclusive. The bill declares that any he/his/him and she/her/hers pronouns used in the current bylaws would be changed to they/them/theirs pronouns to ensure that Student Government is inclusive to current and future members.

“This is really good, it fits in line with our idea for being more inclusive,” Sen. Kaitlyn Sanchez said.

The bill passed with a vote of 23-0-0.

Margo Foreman, the assistant vice president for the Office of Equal Opportunity, provided the program for the evening. She spoke about the purpose that the Office of Equal Opportunity serves for the Iowa State community and addressed how the office can handle discrimination and harassment through complaint responses, facilitated conversation, conflict resolution and mediation.

Dominic Anzalone from Rent College Pads also spoke about a possibility of working with Student Government to create a website tailored to Iowa State to promote the properties around campus for students to live in.

The GENRE Music Club, a club who aims to bring students together through music and performs for Iowa State students and the Ames community four or five times a year, asked for $4,000 in funding.

The club is in need of new equipment for their sound reinforcement system as well as microphones, instrument bags and replacement amplifiers.

“They are a great organization that provides a resource for students to be creative as well as be productive while they are here at Iowa State,” Sen. Sam Freestone said.

The funding request passed with a vote of 23-0-0.

New business on the agenda are five new bills and five new funding requests to be read in.

“Encouraging Sustainable Purchasing Practices on Campus” is a bill aimed at reducing the amount of plastic bags used at campus establishments. The bill asks that ISU Dining and Panda Express post signage encouraging customers to provide their own bags.

The 2019 Election Code was also read in for the senators to review and approve before the cycle of elections begin in the spring semester.

“By-Law Change for Chapter 4 Amendments” is a bill asking that amendments to Chapter 4 be struck from the by-laws as they complicate how Senate meetings are run.

“Approving the 2019 Election Apportionments” is an annual requirement dictated by the by-laws; the Senate must approve the breakdown of seats per category of senators, as decided by student population.

“Approving the 2019 Election Timeline” is a breakdown of important dates in the four week Student Government election cycle and establishes the campaign start date.

The Rare Disease Awareness Club will request $106 to help with their campaign to raise awareness for the issues faced by Americans. The club is looking to use their funding for general printing and mass emails to help with awareness and promote their club.

The Intervarsity Christian Fellowship will ask the Senate for $900 to send students to the Urbana National Christian Conference. The funding would cover six of the 16 students’ registration costs.

Grandma Mojo’s Moonshine Revival, a stand-up improv comedy group, will ask for $965 to assist in covering the costs of promotional materials for their Improv Festival, consisting of improv teams from Iowa State, University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Drake University.

SIR Magazine, a cultural and lifestyle magazine, will ask for $9,580 to help fund publication and printing costs for their fall and spring publications.

The Groove Drumline Club, a club that offers clinics and exhibitions to give arts at Iowa State exposure, will request $4,060.67 to help decrease the cost of replacing items, advertising and tee shirts.

For more information or to contact your senator, visit stugov.iastate.edu. The senate meetings are open to the public on Wednesday’s at 7 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.