SGA Senate tabled a resolution April 12 brought forth after a presidential veto by SGA President Ralph Akalonu. Akalonu vetoed the resolution that would have potentially taken away $1 per credit hour of the student recreation fee that has been set aside for the potential purchase of the Florence Golf and Country Club.

Senator Mary-Francis Wilson, the original author of the resolution, brought the resolution back up to senators to get a vote for an override.

Akalonu said he would not sign the resolution if the wording was not changed.

“I am just against keeping the $1 fee because the original purpose of the fee was for the purchase of land,” Wilson said. “SGA is not being very transparent as a student government if it allocates those funds toward something else without telling students.”

Many senators wanted to table the issue to the April 19 meeting because they did not have enough information to make a decision.

“We really need more student input, and I’m not just talking just a handful of people,” said Senate Pro-Tem Tyree Fletcher. “Senate as a whole needs to go out and listen to students and hear what they have to say.”

Akalonu has asked Recreational Sports and Fitness Director Jim Eubanks to come to the next meeting to present what his department could do with the fee if senate left it in place.

Stay with The Flor-Ala next week after the SGA meeting as this story develops.