The ASEWU student constitution is in the works for a rewrite and it could mean a few things for students. 

The Associated Students of Eastern Washington University (ASEWU) is the Eastern Washington University student council and their purpose is to receive and respond to student concerns. Recently, Remington Steelman, the ASEWU Superior Court Chief Justice, believes the previous constitution, put into place in 2019, may not adequately support students. 

“Our constitution supports the campus pre COVID era,” Steelman said. “And that’s no longer what our students are.”

The current constitution doesn’t represent enough people now that the impacts of COVID are dying down, according to Steelman. Many at the catalyst building in Spokane may not be represented as their student government is located on the Cheney campus. There are also many majors and colleges that have no voice within ASEWU. 

Steelman proposes moving to a Senate system to surpass this problem. By adding Senators from each college within the new constitution, everybody can have a voice. “We’ll hear complaints from English majors, Education majors, Nursing majors, everybody,” Steelman said.

This can change a lot for the future students of EWU. New positions will open up in the student government with a wide variety of people presenting different cultures, identities, majors, etc. 

By connecting with voices of people from all walks of life, Steelman hopes this will bridge a gap between the general population of students and the student government. “By expanding the array of students that we get into the student government, it will help connect us together.”

COVID turned the world on its head and its impacts are still lingering. As the University returns to normal, the constitution rewrites strive to connect us together again and move past that part of history. 

“By having a student government that students feel supported by and where they feel that they can express concerns will greatly impact the culture of the university.”

Since the constitution is still being rewritten, the timeline of when it will be put into place is tricky. There’s a long process that goes into rewriting a constitution. As the only one working on the rewrites, Steelman says his process is looking through the old constitution and seeing what is working and what isn’t. Also, he is looking at other constitutions to see how EWU can best support its students.

“I want everyone to feel that they have a place on our campus,” Steelman said.

Steelman proposes moving the Executive Board from 3 positions, to 6. Alongside the President, Executive Vice President, and Finance Vice President, the new constitution adds on the Senate Speaker who would act as a Senate Majority leader. The Senate Speaker would be the voice for various student organizations such as Equality and Multicultural Affairs, Governmental Affairs, and Student Life. 

The new constitution is only in the drafting stage, but to be approved, 10% of the student body needs to vote and within that vote, approximately 2/3rds need to be a yes. Then, the constitution will go through the Board of Trustees. Once approved by the board, it will be put into place and the new changes will appear on campus, says Gabriel Blackwel, Advisor for Student Government and Publications.

The new changes rewrites introduce will drastically change the university, hopefully for the better. 

“If we fix the constitution,” says Steelman, “we’ll be able to connect with more students in a way that we haven’t been able to before.”