The Student Government Association isn’t wasting any time this year. 

SGA senators will vote on a few bills and resolutions during Tuesday’s meeting. One particular bill, if passed, will recognize a new branch of SGA. If Bill1-15-F, a bill to recognize the WKU Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox campus, is passed, it will distinguish a student body association at the Elizabethtown campus.

SGA President Jay Todd Richey said it is very important to him that students on the Elizabethtown campus feel like they are being heard and represented. 

“There is no reason they ever should have felt forgotten in the first place,” he said. 

According to Richey, the student body association would be made up of five officers, a president, an executive vice president, a chief of staff, an attorney general and a secretary. They would also be represented when SGA votes on legislation. 

If the bill is passed, Richey said, “We will formally recognize them, and they are considered a part of any event.” 

The bill states the recognition will “increase student involvement both within Western Kentucky University and within the Elizabethtown/Ft. Knox community.” 

It also says the “Elizabethtown Student Body Association seeks to have better access to the various services and organizations available on the Bowling Green campus.”

Richey said he had been thinking about the need for this since last year. However, he was speaker of the house and had to be impartial. 

Last semester, SGA voted on a bill to add a $30 fee to help fund the construction of a new parking structure. 

“Students at regional campuses are going to see that fee even though they will never see the parking structure,” he said. “I wish we had more of the regional campuses’ voice.”

Richey said he is very confident the bill will be passed. He said while he does not know of anything specifically they want to work on, he is excited to work together with the student body association. 

“We can share ideas and provide them with funding if necessary,” he said. 

Richey said this is something that will definitely benefit WKU’s main campus as well as regional campuses.

“Many times people consider students to be involved and be true WKU students if they’re visible,” he said. “Students sometimes forget that WKU is very diverse.”