Religious organizations reorganize council

Members of the Undergraduate Student Government and various religious organizations are working to revive the Religious Organizations Council, which will give religious organizations a unified voice in the student government for the first time since Katrina.

USG adviser Jered Bocage, along with David Gray, USG vice president of student organizations and Jennifer DeGier, the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship adviser, have led the revival efforts.

“Religious organizations have always been an important part of campus life, and I think USG recognized that they deserve the same kinds of support that other organizations receive,” Bocage said.

Once the council is revived, it will promote dialogue between the religious organizations, provide the organizations with representation in USG and allow them to receive USG funds.

“If it can be organized well, there is a lot of potential,” said Matthew DeGier, Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship adviser and religious life staff co-chair.

The council consists of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, the Baptist Campus Ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Several other organizations are eligible to join the council, including the Buddhists for Global Peace, Catholic Center, Muslim Student Organization, Impact Movement, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Bhakti Yoga. Each group on the council has one representative, and the council as a whole has one representative to USG.

“I have communicated with the six other eligible groups to submit a representative since September, but they have not,” Jennifer DeGier said.

Several religious organizations are not eligible to join the council or have representatives because they are not recognized as student religious organizations. Some centers have chosen to remain independent of USG, have not completed the proper paperwork to become an official organization, or filled out the forms so long ago that the records have been lost.

Jennifer DeGier said that she thinks now is a prime opportunity for religious organizations to register and become affiliated with USG.

“Anyone who wants to be a USG-registered student organization needs to get their information up-to-date and clear up any questionable status,” Jennifer DeGier said.

Hermann Alb, a staff minister at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, said he thinks revitalizing the council is a good idea.

“I think that it’s good to have a group of the different religious organizations together to show that there is religious activity on campus, and it’s also nice to see the religious organizations working with USG,” Alb said.