During their first regular meeting of the fall semester on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Senate of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) passed two pieces of legislation. The senate signed off on creating a new scholarship to cover the costs of academic and professional programs for students and a resolution criticizing the potential disbanding of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) committee on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA).
The Furthering Education Scholarship Program was established through a unanimous vote, allocating an initial $10,000 that will be available to students to cover fees for “graduate school entrance examinations, professional licensure examinations, and certificate examinations,” according to the bill. Scholarship recipients will be able to receive up to $500 to cover fees for professional entrance exams such as the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
ASUN President Dillon Moss told senators that these scholarships should become available this semester. Moss previously championed the scholarship program as a feature of his presidential campaign earlier this year.
The NSHE Board of Regents is set to consider disbanding their IDEA committee in a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 27. The ASUN Senate’s resolution opposes this idea, with Anna Barrus, senator for the School of Public Health, and Viviana Castro, senator for the College of Liberal Arts, saying that the move would get rid of dedicated oversight for IDEA-related issues. The resolution notes that the disbanding of the committee would be “in line with demanded program changes listed in President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14151.” The executive order requested the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government.
The resolution passed unanimously.
