Student Government Association (SGA) Records, 1915-2015 *JMU Records*

This is the largest series in the collection and contains material related to the function and organization of SGA, featuring a variety of documents from 1923-2013, with the bulk of this series is from 1990-2013. There is a large gap in the material around 1980s. The first folder in the series, containing the organization's first constitution and by-laws, is not original to the collection. The document was located in the 1915 Faculty Minutes in the Board of Visitors Collection, 1908-2004 (PR 99-1122), photocopied, and added to the collection on March 25, 2015. This series additionally contains some interesting material related to student strikes which took place on campus in 1969 and 1970. There is particular information related to Jay Rainey, one of the student leaders, as well as SGA's Committee on Student Protest. Other materials to note in this series are documents from the early 2000s which relate to the sexual assault research on college campuses, reports related to the impact of Title IX on campus, and SGA research regarding the Forrest Hill Riot in 2000, which resulted in a conflict between the Harrisonburg Police Department and students at a spring block party.

This series contains material related to the work of the different SGA committees from 1931-2002. There is another large gap of material in the 1980s. The bulk of this series is from the 1960s and 1999-2002. This series also includes information related to the standards of conduct for female students in the 1930s and 1960s, such as proper dating procedures.

This series features correspondence from members of SGA to faculty and students on campus as well as several folders of correspondence to individuals off campus. The material in this series ranges from 1955-1971 with a small concentration from 2003. This series contains a fair amount of historical material, such as: a thank you card from Jackie Kennedy, 1963; material related to fears of communism on college campuses, 1965-1966; a letter from an upset parent regarding Jane Fonda's visit to campus in 1971; correspondence related to the proper conduct of female students during the 1950s and 1960s, especially in terms of interactions with males. This series also contains a collection of correspondence regarding the 2003 Board of Visitors decision to stop supplying students with emergency conception through the health center.

This series contains material related to the different standards and regulations applying to the students of the school 1931-1971. Most of the material from this series is from the 1950s and 1960s. These documents provide interesting examples of the different social expectations of men and women during the period as well as the restrictive nature of the school's administration in comparison to current campus regulations. The material from the 2000s relates to the policies student representatives are to follow during meetings of the Student Senate.

This series contains the minutes of the different branches of SGA, particularly Student Senate and the Executive Board, 1922-2012. There are two gaps in this series most notably between 1930-1940 with two smaller gaps in the 1970s and 2000s. These minutes generally provide information such as: meeting agendas, events taking place on campus, SGA members and committee chairs, as well as general insight into the everyday issues discussed in SGA meetings.

This series contains a mixture of bills and resolutions from SGA's Student Senate, 1989-2012, with the bulk from the 1990s. The series contains a large amount of resolutions related to the organization's contingency fund through which SGA assists in providing funding to different student organization on campus. However, there are also several folders of various bills presented to the Student Senate including proposed legislation that address contemporary social issues such as sexual orientation, campus issues such as better toilet paper, and student issues such as students' rights to privacy.

This series contains a variety of financial documents ranging from purchase orders and yearly budget information to travel receipts. A majority of the materials in this collection are budget reports providing financial information for different fiscal years. These reports are usually connected to the creation of the university's front-end budgets and often include budget information for other campus organizations such as the University Program Board, The Breeze, Black Student Alliance, and Student Ambassadors. A majority of the material removed from this series were: purchase orders; accounting and banking information; invoices; and receipts. This material was removed due to the presence of account information and social security numbers, and/or it was deemed that the material had little research value.

This series contains records of disciplinary hearings conducted by Student Council, 1922-1973. Examples of students' misconduct include smoking cigarettes, possession of smoking paraphernalia, riding with dates without proper permission, going downtown or off campus without proper permission, cheating on assignments and/or examinations, mild hazing, stealing books, shoplifting, and drinking. Punishments included warnings, being "campused," probation, and indefinite suspension.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) mandates that certain disciplinary files in this series be restricted. FERPA protection ends with the death of the student. Therefore, records are opened for research 80 years after their creation when it is presumed that the student is deceased.

This series features five different groups of photographs, 2000-2014. The bulk of these photographs are connected to the SGA research of the Forrest Hill Riot in 2000; however, there are also photographs of the Class of 2009 Ring Premiere, the SGA Halloween Party, JMU's Big Event, and one of SGA's lobbying trips.

This series contains material from eight different SGA scrapbooks dated 2001-2009. These scrapbooks have little descriptive text and mostly contain photographs of different SGA functions and events. These scrapbooks are some of the best representations of the SGA student experience, as the images in these book show the relationships and personalities of the individuals that comprise the organization. One of particular importance is the scrapbook containing the letters, pictures, and notes saved from the two-year anniversary memorial of 9-11. The SGA 2001-2002 scrapbook contains a photograph of SGA members with former Governor and Mayor Douglas Wilder and Senator Mark Warner.

This series contains a variety of realia related to the history of SGA, 1930-2014. There are several large gaps in this series; 1931-1954, 1970-1980, and 2002-2012. The ephemera in this collection primarily comprises shirts, posters, academic regalia, and installation programs; however, there are additional items such as an SGA travel mug and several plaques. "Mr. and Ms. Madison 2014" sashes are included.