The first University of Iowa Student Government meeting of the school year took place Tuesday.

by Alyssa Guzman
[email protected]

The University of Iowa Student Government held its first general Senate meeting Tuesday and welcomed a new student group and a new diversity liaison.

UI student Quentin Hill started the meeting by introducing a new student organization, Campus Democrats for Secure Israel.

The group currently has five members, and it has not yet fully shtarted recruitment efforts.

“We want to build a cohesive coalition with groups who will be supportive of our initiative on campus,” Hill said.

The group hopes to advocate for pro-Israel legislation.

Though it does not identify as a religious group, it does identify as a political group.

“We want to engage all kinds of different students from all kinds of different progressive communities,” Hill said.

Its first conference will take place from Oct. 11-13 in Washington, D.C.

“We want to get five UI students to this conference,” Hill said.

After public comment, the introduction of a new UISG diversity liaison said she would like to push for more involvement regarding public access.

Sophomore and previous UISG secretary Noopur Inani was appointed to the position at the meeting. She said she hopes to build on what the previous diversity liaison did by fostering connections with the Center for Diversity and Enrichment, building up events, and facilitating opportunities.

“There are great events on campus that are not yet marketed to the fullest extent,” Inani said.

She hopes to change that by bringing diverse events to the attention of both UISG and the students.

Through facilitating those events, she also hopes to create opportunities for new and international students outside of their living-learning community or housing.

A few ways in which she plans on creating opportunities for students to connect are through their culture, gender identity, or sexual identity.

“It is great to be able to start a new chapter in multiculturalism and immersion on campus,” Inani said. “The first step is to educate ourselves and others and begin to network in order to ensure each student on campus feels comfortable.”

With Inani moving from UISG secretary to diversity liaison, the UISG will search for a new secretary.