will now recognize November 2020 as Veterans and Military Appreciation Month after the unanimous passage of a resolution.

During the Nov. 2 Students’ Association meeting, the Senate voted to pass Resolution 20-15-R, entitled “(South Dakota State University) Students’ Association Recognition of November as Veterans and Military Appreciation Month.”

The resolution was inspired by the passage of Resolution 20-09-R, which recognized October as “LGBTQ+ History Month.” During the discussion of 20-09-R, members of the Senate expressed their interest in drafting resolutions to honor other groups on campus as well.

Senator-At-Large Andrew Rasmussen and Cole Hennen, president of the SDSU Armed Forces Association, collaborated on the drafting and passage of Resolution 20-15-R.

“This [military members and veterans] is a group we all know are on campus,” Rasmussen said. “We all see the military hall or see them doing exercises, but I think a lot of people don’t recognize what they do or what events they have. We also have many non-traditional students who are veterans, so I think this group is important to recognize.”

The resolution also mentions events being hosted by AFA, the Veterans Affairs Office and Multicultural Affairs Office during November. These include Warrior Week, Nov. 9-13, and a talk by David Flute, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations and Purple Heart recipient.

“I think it’s really awesome that we have two groups that you might not associate together working together and highlighting certain aspects that students wouldn’t normally think about,” Rasmussen said.

The Senate passed the resolution unanimously.

“We had a lot of support, which I really think is exciting for Students’ Association,” Rasmussen said. “We were really able to unify behind that and it wasn’t a contentious item.”

After the celebration of LGBTQ History Month and the adoption of Veterans and Military Appreciation Month, Rasmussen hopes the Senate can do more to celebrate other underrepresented groups at SDSU.

“I’m definitely interested in writing more resolutions looking at those underrepresented groups that we have on campus,” Rasmussen said. “Obviously I’m not the expert, so it’s nice having someone else take the lead on it, but I’m happy to help them through the process and help carry some of those resolutions.”