The Student Association (SA) Congress held its regular semi-monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 24. Three new members of the SA judicial board were approved; Adam Wilkes, vice president for academic affairs, introduced a piece of legislation titled “A Greater Purpose in Higher Education”; and other SA Executive Board members and committee heads each gave office updates.

The SA judicial board is a branch of the SA that is primarily responsible for reviewing legislation passed by the SA Congress and either upholding or rejecting it according to the SA constitution.

The judicial board consists of nine members, and three spaces on the board had been empty due to graduations last semester. SA President Nicholas Ferrara, a senior majoring in political science, nominated sophomores Alexander May and Hirah Ahmed, and freshman Nabil Tavarez for positions on the board.

There was some debate among representatives concerning whether the positions should be filled by underclassmen who have never held executive board positions before. However, all three were eventually approved with zero members dissenting.

Wilkes submitted his legislation during the new business portion of the meeting. The legislation outlines a macro level picture of what a university education means to the students of Binghamton University. According to Wilkes, his office supports a holistic approach to education.

Additionally, Wilkes said Binghamton University has completed its approval of the bachelor of social work program. The program is currently awaiting approval from SUNY Central Offices before it becomes an official degree offering.

He also updated the SA Congress on his efforts to gain student representation on the search committee for the new Harpur College Dean.

“We will be as polite as possible but we will be persistent,” Wilkes said. “I am going to push for as much transparency on these committees as possible.”

SA Executive Vice President Raaga Rajagopala, a junior double-majoring in economics and French, encouraged everyone to push for more participation in the SUNY sexual violence survey.

“If they don’t have enough people fill out the survey, the results won’t be valid,” Rajagopala said.

Max Maurice, SA vice president for programming and a senior majoring in electrical engineering, said that the fall concert was a success despite some concerns about the performer and that his office is continuing to plan future shows for the semester.

“Fetty Wap happened last Friday, and he was actually here so that was great,” Maurice said. “For those of you who went to the protests, I hear that went well as well.”