Students petition for vote on football

An ETSU graduate student is spearheading a petition to take the issue of football to the students for their approval.

The SGA senate voted Jan. 29 to approve a resolution documenting the organization’s support for the university establishing a new football program.

Since the vote, several students have voiced dissatisfaction with the senate’s decision, and some are utilizing the SGA Constitution to try to force a student vote on the resolution.

The SGA Constitution promises students the power to force a student body vote on all measures enacted by the SGA by presenting a petition containing the signatures of 10 percent of all currently registered students.

Elisa Carbajo, a graduate student in education, took advantage of that promise by starting a petition in response to the senate’s decision regarding the football resolution.

“I feel like when the SGA voted for this [football resolution], they really didn’t take into consideration the student body,” Carbajo said. “I feel that many students don’t support this. ”

The process of submitting a sufficient petition is more difficult than it seems, SGA adviser Sally Lee said.

For a petition to be sufficient to send the issue to the students for their approval, it must be formatted like an SGA resolution, according to the SGA Code of Laws.

The petition must also be presented in a way that makes it clear that those who signed it knew what they were signing, Lee said.

If the petition is submitted to the SGA, it will go to Lee, who will verify all signers as currently registered students.

If the petition is sufficient, students will vote on the issue via the end-of-year ballot for the SGA election, Lee said.

Carbajo said that she is aware of all of the requirements put forth in both the SGA Constitution and Code of Laws.

Carbajo has distributed several copies of her petition to university departments and intends to reserve a space on Borchuck Plaza to collect signatures, she said.

As of Tuesday, she had about 20 signatures.

After collecting the signatures of the necessary 10 percent, she will need to present the petition to SGA President Iqra Ahmad.

Meanwhile, the university is moving ahead with preparations for the football program, said Joe Smith, interim executive assistant to the president for university relations.

“[President Brian Noland] has taken the recommendation from the SGA and is moving forward,” Smith said.