Student Government (SG) seniors Julia Habchi and Annabelle Folsom said goodbye to the Senate as they presented resolutions at its final meeting of the semester.

All three resolutions presented were passed unanimously Tuesday night.

Senator Habchi presented and authored two resolutions  – one calling for the university to offer a plant-based main dish at all campus events, and one calling for three excused absences for students dealing with menstrual pain.

“Having both of my resolutions – the Plant Pact and the Menstrual Leave Policy – pass unanimously feels like a true culmination of everything I hoped to achieve as a student leader,” Habchi said.

Senate Relations Chair Folsom presented a resolution to add signatures to student IDs so they can be used as valid identification when voting in Florida.

Resolutions passed by the SG Senate are non-binding statements of support that “reflect the beliefs and values of not only Student Government, but the Student Body as a whole,” according to SG. 

Related: USF Senate discussion about ethics investigation on student body pres and VP delayed – The Oracle

Signatures on Student IDs

Student IDs are accepted at Florida polling locations if the card has the student’s signature on it. The resolution, sponsored by Folsom, proposed adding signatures to USF student IDs.

Related: New USF IDs to include signature, pronouns in future design – The Oracle 

Students who are living away from their homes can register to vote in Florida using their campus residential address, according to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office. 

However, Florida only accepts Florida driver’s licenses, so out-of-state students who got their ID in their home state would not be able to use their driver’s license as identification at the polling place in Florida, according to the Florida Department of State.

By adding signatures to USF student IDs, Bulls would be able to use it as identification at polling locations in Florida.

Folsom said she has been in contact with the ID Card Center and said they are “working on it.”

Folsom presented the resolution because its authors, Arjun Manohar and Adom Neizer-Ashun, were unavailable. Manohar is the president of Florida PIRG Students at USF and Neizer-Ashun is an intern with PIRG’s New Voters Project.

“The main thing is really just to reduce barriers to voting access, especially for college students,” Manohar said in an interview with the Oracle.

The initiative is not new, but this year’s team has been working with the ID Card Center since around January. He said they hoped signatures would be added to student IDs before last month’s elections. 

However, the process is taking longer than expected, so Manohar said he is hoping to have signatures added to the cards by the 2026 midterm election.

Related: Election Day draws excitement, anxiety from USF voters – The Oracle 

“It’s just leadership is making the decision right now,” Folsom said. “So, the point of this resolution is just to encourage them to do it and know that there is student support for it now.”

Menstrual Leave Policy

Habchi presented the Menstrual Leave Policy resolution, which advocates for three academic days of excused absences per semester for students dealing with “menstrual discomfort.”

This resolution allowed her to advocate for equity and inclusivity, especially when dealing with a topic treated as a “taboo subject,” Habchi said.

“I’ve had friends and peers who struggled to balance their academic workload with severe discomfort or pain during their cycles,” she said. “It was disheartening to see such a natural, recurring experience become a barrier to academic success.”

She said the policy was inspired by Spain’s menstrual leave law and saw an opportunity to advocate for a similar policy at USF through her role with SG.

If implemented, Habchi said it would “normalize” the challenges students dealing with menstrual discomfort face and would empower students to “prioritize their health.”

Related: Free organic menstrual product dispensers installed on USF Tampa campus – The Oracle 

Plant Pact

Coming from a “pretty carnivorous” family, Habchi’s decision to switch to the plant-based diet at just 15 years old wasn’t easy. But, seven years later, she’s sharing her passion for the diet by authoring the Plant Pact.

Adding one plant-based option at all campus events would help promote USF’s sustainability goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Plant Pact resolution. 

Related: Painting to petition: Students demand an Office of Sustainability at USF Tampa campus – The Oracle 

Habchi was used to challenges of having a plant-based diet, particularly how difficult it is to eat at events. She said she is used to packing an “emergency snack” before attending an event.

“I had this big realization that we needed to do something quick,” she said. “There needed to be change. And that’s pretty much when the idea of Plant Pact was born.”

Both the Plant Pact and Menstrual Leave Policy resolutions were a way for Habchi to share her values and advocate for issues she is passionate about, she said.

“These resolutions represent two sides of the same coin – building a healthier, more inclusive and climate-conscious university,” she said.