At its regular Thursday meeting, Grand Valley State University’s Student Senate discussed interfaith efforts to make campus more inclusive for various faiths, as well as a possible expansion of the Recreation Center.

Anthony Clemons, vice president of Diversity Affairs, said his committee is working for GVSU to be more accommodating of all religions. One project it’s working on is having more inclusive prayer spaces on campus.

“A place where people can not only pray, but some religions need to bathe or need time for quiet meditation before they pray,” Clemons said.

Currently, there is no space like that on campus for students, faculty or staff who require it. There are prayer spaces at GVSU, but they’re not fully equipped for all different types of prayer. The biggest place of worship on campus is the Cook-DeWitt Center, which is primarily used by Judeo-Christian religions.

Another project the committee is working on is trying to develop an interfaith office on campus. The interfaith office would be similar to the Women’s Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs that already exist at GVSU.

“A lot of our peer institutions already have these interfaith offices,” Clemons said, adding that he has been working with other universities for ideas about how to get it started.

Workout expansions

Timothy Layer, vice president of Campus Affairs, said his committee is also working on new developments at GVSU, including the expansion of the Recreation Center. Members of his committee are meeting with students involved in the Student Advisory Expansion Committee, part of the Health and Wellness Department, to figure out ways to get the expansion project going.

“As students, we’re proposing ideas of what we want to do to move forward with the expansion,” Layer said.

He added that this includes ideas for funding, awareness of the project through social media and what the expansion will include. Some of the students on the committee are also exercise science students who will be helping with ideas of what should be included in the expansion to accommodate the fitness needs of students.

Easier access

Layer said his committee has also enhanced the Wi-Fi connection in some of the first-year living centers this year. Last year, the Wi-Fi connection was better on the first floor of all the buildings because of where the wireless router was located. Now, there are routers on the higher floors of the living centers, so the wireless connection is the same for all the residents in the building.

Committee representation

Last week, the Student Senate passed a resolution on the addition of graduate student seats for University Governance Committees, which was sent to the Executive Committee of the Senate. Changes in policy requiring stricter attendance by student senators at committee meetings will be discussed and voted on at the next Student Senate meeting.

Senators appointed to the university committees attended meetings this week to show that they are committed, even though legislation for more seats and changes to the attendance policy has yet to be passed.