The Student Government Association will join student governments at other Kentucky universities in efforts to promote diversity on campuses.

A bill that would sponsor the creation of a diversity council will be presented for its first reading at SGA’s first meeting of the semester today at 5 p.m., SGA President Katie Dawson said.

Taylorsville junior Lindsey Lilly, SGA student affairs chair and author of the bill, said the committee would hold roundtable discussions with the heads of campus organizations to see how diversity is being sponsored and student needs are being met.

“The main goal is to get student input,” Lilly said. “That’s really one of the most helpful tools that SGA has.”

Fort Campbell sophomore Michelle Bell, president of Western’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said one issue that needs to be addressed at Western is a lack of diversity within the faculty.

If the legislation is approved, invitations to participate will be sent out to all campus organizations that are on the roster with the student activities office.

“I think that Western is extremely diverse, but some organizations aren’t necessarily having their voices heard,” Lilly said.

Tentative dates have been set for the council to meet once a month for the rest of the semester, she said.

Inspiration for the council came from research on what other student affairs offices at universities similar to Western were doing, Lilly said.

Other student governments around the state have passed legislation to sponsor diversity in recent semesters.

At the University of Kentucky, a resolution was recently passed expressing a need for diversity within the school.

UK student Mallory Jenkins, who sponsored the resolution, said the main goal of the resolution was to say the student government supports the university’s promotions of a diverse student body.

“We feel like that was just a stepping stone to conquering that issue,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins said diversity has become an issue at UK since black enrollment dropped dramatically this year. Black enrollment for new freshmen in the fall 2005 semester was down by 40 percent.

Eastern Kentucky University sponsored its first SGA diversity forum in November, said Mario Anderson, director of public relations for Eastern’s SGA.

The biggest concern Eastern students expressed was the lack of adequate minority representation in SGA, he said.

Jennifer Perry, president of the SGA at Northern Kentucky University, said the organization hasn’t sponsored a forum to discuss diversity, but similar forums have been held by other organizations like Students Together Against Racism.

“This year we’ve actually had the most diverse membership ever,” Perry said.

Northern’s SGA created a $5,000 fund in the spring of 2005 for use by programs that support diversity within the student body, she said.