About Multicultural Representation
In January 2021, the student body ratified an amendment to the IUSG Constitution that created the opportunity for multicultural student organizations at IU to gain a voting seat in the Student Body Congress, joining the 62 seats that are publicly elected by the student body.
Once an organization is granted a seat, the organization is responsible for appointing a person to be its Representative in Congress for that year. The seat expires at the beginning of October in the following year. An organization whose seat is about to expire may apply for their seat to be renewed for the next year.
Organization Eligibility and Application Process
Organizations may apply for a seat on an annual basis at the beginning of each fall semester. The application process is managed by the IUSG Election Commission. For an application to be approved, the following criteria must be satisfied:
1) The organization must be made up of, and run by, students at IU Bloomington and must be registered for the current academic year on IU's BeInvolved website.
2) The organization must represent a "historically and currently underrepresented ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender, sexuality, disability, or religion" (IUSG Const. Art. II §2).
3) The organization must be nonpartisan; that is, the organization must not be affiliated with any political party.
4) A student who is a registered member of the organization must submit the organization's application by filling out the form at the bottom of this page no later than the date of the fall general election.
An organization is not required to already have a Representative selected when it applies. Once an organization is granted a seat, there is no deadline to appoint a Representative to fill that seat. The seat expires at the beginning of October of the following year.
Renewal Application by a Previously Admitted Organization
For an organization that has been granted a seat in one year's Congress and that wishes to renew their seat for the following year, Congress has enacted a simpler application process than the form for new applicants.
To request renewal of your organization's seat, a student who is a registered member of the organization must simply fill out the Multicultural Application Form under the Congress tab to inform Election Management that the organization would like to renew their seat. Election Management will then re-review the organization's eligibility status and either confirm or reject the application in a timely manner.
The deadline to apply for renewal is the date of the fall general election, the same deadline as for an organization applying for the first time.
Appointing Your Organization's Representative
Once an organization is granted a seat in Congress, the organization's president will receive the form to officially appoint a person to serve as the organization's Representative for that year. Once the organization president selects a Representative, signs the appointment form, and returns the signed form to IUSG, the Representative will be onboarded an will be able to begin their duties as a Member of Congress.
