‘We want to represent every student’: What you should know about TSG’s Parliament

Before our current Temple Student Government team, EmpowerTU had created Parliament as an initiative to recognize, embrace, and empower every student of Temple’s student population by becoming the platform to advocate for all voices.

While many Temple students do not know we have a Parliament, it is important for everyone to know why it exists and the purpose of having representatives for every school at Temple.

The Tab Temple spoke to Jacob Kurtz, TSG's Parliamentarian and Bridget B. Warlea, Speaker of Parliament of why Temple students should be aware of us having a voice within this legislative branch of TSG and how we could enact real change at our university.

Who gets to represent us on the Parliament?

According to Temple Student Government's website, there are 37 representative seats: 12 School/College Based, 10 Year Based, 10 Issues based, and 5 At Large seats. The 10 Issues based seats include: 2 Multicultural seats,and one seat for representatives of Honors, RHA, DRS/AAL, Athletics, Sorority and Fraternity Life, Commuters, International Students, and LGBTQIA+ cohorts.

If a Temple student wishes to apply they must be ready to represent and lead. A successful Parliament representative is someone who seeks to uphold the high standards of Temple Student Government, and able to advocate for all Temple students. They must also be able to attend Parliament Meetings immediately after Monday General Assembly Meetings, and meeting each specific chair’s requirements.

A TSG Parliament representative must meet the qualifications of a 2.5 GPA or higher and the status of full time student with 12 or more credit hours.

Meet Bridget B. Warlea, Speaker of Parliament

Warlea's role in Parliament includes leading the body during and outside of session while also maintaining the order.

She ensures everything is done in a respectful way during Parliament sessions where they propose and vote on resolutions . She is also a liaison from the legislative branch to the executive branch in TSG.

These Parliament sessions are always opened to public and students should be watchful for TSG's social media to attend one.

"We just started advertising on TSG flyers and there will be more initiatives in the future to get Parliament's voice out," said Warlea.

Warlea helps representatives grow as leaders since she was committee chair last year, and wishes to help everyone who needs guidance if needed.

Meet Jacob Kurtz, TSG's Parliamentarian

Jacob Kurtz works to train all people on Parliament. He teaches them how to motion, vote, what different votes look like, how to interact with different resolutions, and works to fill any empty seats on Parliament.

He is currently working to fill the Graduate, Fox, and Transfer seat on Parliament. All three of these seats are in the process of being filled.

He works to maintain a large, represented body and also works with Parliament as the liaison to the Executive branch. Kurtz also works closely alongside the Communications Director Sarah Madaus and Promotions Manager Bri Cicero.

"Students should know that there is a branch of TSG built solely to represent them, that is Parliament," said Kurtz "I believe by informing them more on Parliament and sharing what exactly we do we can help the student body take a more active role in TSG as a whole."

What happens during a Parliament session?

According to Warlea, Parliament sessions are typically for proposing and voting or debating on resolutions. Students are able to come and sit during the sessions. Although, it has never been put in placed for students to speak during the sessions, Warlea suggests for students to find their Parliament representatives before the sessions or email Warlea if they want anything to be discussed with Parliament.

What should students be expecting from Parliament this year?

"We want to keep building the brand of Parliament and have people know who we are and what we do," Warlea said "We want Parliament to still be alive whether or not a new Executive branch in the future values this legislative branch."

Warlea explains she wants to increase Parliament's social media presence and encourage each Parliament representative to make their own professional Twitter page. As the multicultural representative, creating her own social media presence for Parliament was the key to her success in her campaign to winning her position.

They also revamped the graphics for General Assembly meetings for TSG where students can now see the option to stay after GA meetings for Parliament.

Parliament is also beginning "Parliament Member of the Week" and working on their visibility throughout the semester.

"Being a representative last year, I knew we had to promote Parliament and letting people know that we are here," Kurtz said "We are working in improving our website for students to find their representatives online with their photo."

Previously, students were only able to see their Parliament's representative's name and email but with the new improved website, they will have a visual of each person.

Jacob and Bridget also have this idea of creating a committee social media account for complete transparency for their representatives and students.

Bridget's biggest goal is continue increasing interaction with constituents and have events with student organizations whether it is a town hall, an event about a particular topic or just a couple of representatives in 200C with food around them. TSG parliament wishes to be more visible and available for every student.

She also hopes to increase the amount of resolutions that are passed and by becoming an active leader, Warlea is hopeful to help students find the information they are searching for and guide them in any way possible.

Jacob exclaims that they are fortunate to have the ActivateTU executive team and directors who are excited to work alongside Parliament.

However, Kurtz explains that it is important that students support Parliament since this branch of student government is essential to representing all students on campus.

"Although this current executive team and directors value Parliament, one of the things we want to do is make sure we set up Parliament as something that can not go away," Kurtz said "As great as this administration has been, there's a possibility that a future one may not, but if students are behind it then they will always have to keep it around."

Both Kurtz and Warlea's hope is to make Parliament stay longer and not dependent on a good administration.

Parliament will be having open hearings for the seats needed to be filled, according to Kurtz, which are the Fox, Graduate, and Transfer seats. They are also hoping to continue being transparent by sending out press releases with any changes such as the Commuter representative stepping down recently.

The biggest reforms Kurtz wishes to do is increase the amount of student representation and fill all the empty seats in Parliament.

"It's very important for students to voice their opinions and feel like their voice is being heard in Parliament," Kurtz said "Students can message me if they ever have questions about Parliament."

To learn more about TSG's Parliament, follow Temple Student Government's Twitter for meetings and upcoming hearings.

@gailvivarx3