Student Senate passes resolution to support Ohio Fairness Act

Student Senate at Wednesday’s meeting. Photo by Emily Zeiler.

Student Senate passed a bill Wednesday night in support of the Ohio Fairness Act, a bill currently moving through the Ohio legislature. If passed, the act would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in workplace and educational opportunities. 

“Before I got my name and legal gender changed, I knew that every time I went in for a job interview, even if it went very well, my identification didn’t match how I look, and it was possible I would not get the job,” said LGBT Student Senator Owen Yates-McEwan, who sponsored the bill to support the Ohio Fairness Act. 

Athens City Council will discuss passing a similar resolution in support of the act next Tuesday during their full-body meeting, according to a previous report from The New Political.

Austin McClain and Justin Kelley, student trustees on Ohio University’s Board of Trustees, also presented to the Senate, talking about what topics the Board plans to discuss during this week’s upcoming meetings. Topics of discussion include Ohio U’s reported budget crisis and the university’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The Board will have an executive committee meeting Thursday 7:30 a.m.. The main Board meeting will be held Friday at 9:45 a.m. in Walter Hall Rm. 104. 

Lorna Jean Edmonds, director of the Center for International Students, presented on how Ohio U says study abroad helps students prepare for the future.

Ohio U also encourages new faculty and staff to study abroad to encourage students to take the same opportunities. The Presidential Global Engagement Fund has $200,000 that helps fund trips in non-European areas for students and faculty.

“When you graduate, you as alumni are not just leaders, but global leaders,” Edmonds said.