In a brief legislative session Tuesday, members of the Student Council Representative Body voted unanimously and without debate to pass a bill approving the creation of 11 new Contracted Independent Organizations.
The 11 new CIOs are the Association for Women in Sports Media, the Association of Women Surgeons Student Chapter at U.Va., BiHOOphilic at U.Va., Data Science and Analytics Club, Immersive@UVA, LabShorts, Link Lab Committee on Culture and Livability, the Orthopedic Interest Group, the Polish Student Association, Take Back the Night at U.Va. — the organization’s CIO status briefly went inactive and the group operated under the umbrella group Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition — and the Barbell Club at U.Va.
The bill was sponsored by Ty Zirkle, a fourth-year College student and vice president for organizations for Student Council, who was not present at the meeting.
Members of two of the organizations, the Barbell Club at U.Va. and BiHOOphilic at U.Va., addressed the Representative Body during the period for public comment.
According to the bill, the Barbell Club at U.Va. was established for the purpose of “fostering a community to build positive relationships both inside and outside the gym” and “providing a communication system to enhance the fitness experience for new and experienced weightlifters.”
BiHOOphilic at U.Va. was established for the purpose of promoting “the recognition, understanding, and appreciation of biophilia, which is defined by E.O. Wilson to be ‘...the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms,’” according to the bill.
Conner Bowman, a third-year Curry student and the president of the Barbell Club at U.Va., spoke first.
“We want to get more people actively involved in feeling comfortable in the gym, creating a community around that, and learning and growing together,” Bowman said. “We hold seminars, we host speakers, roundtable discussions and we open it up to anybody whether you’re a novice or experienced.”
Bowman was followed by Maria Tahamtani, a third-year College student and the president of BiHOOphilic at U.Va., and Daniel Brooks, a third-year College student and the vice president of BiHOOphilic at U.Va., who expressed their excitement.
“Even on such short notice, some of our club is also here to support as we watch the culmination of all our hard work over the past semester,” Tahamtani said.
Tahamtani then asked the attending members of BiHOOphilic at U.Va. to stand, and three people did.
“We as officers are excited to share BiHOOphilic with the University over the next however many years as a newly recognized CIO, so we’re very excited,” Brooks said.
The bill passed with a vote of 23 in favor and one abstention by proxy from fourth-year College student Sara Zahir.
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