Student Government Association’s new school supply program will aid students preparing for class.

Students will be able to get free school supplies at the library after student representatives passed a bill at Tuesday night’s SGA meeting.

The pilot program will last for the rest of the fall semester. Pens, pencils, highlighters and folders will be purchased using $500 from the SGA budget.

“We don’t really have anywhere to buy school supplies near the library after the bookstore closes,” said Vice President of External Affairs Hillary Shepheard. “For girls, it can be dangerous if they are walking back to their dorm or to Kroger late at night. It’s also just not a convenience for anyone who is trying to get studying done.”

The amount given to the program will adjust per semester in the future. A part of this program will also offer school supplies donated by other students who no longer need those supplies.

The supplies will be located at the technology resources desk of the library this semester. This spot will most likely be moved to an unknown location next semester because the reconstruction of the library will begin.

This bill was already passed in the spring semester, but because it was so late in the year, student representatives were not able to begin the program before the semester ended. The bill had to be passed again in order to go into affect for the fall semester.

“We’re not giving people pencils. We’re giving them the thirty minutes it takes to go to the bookstore and back,” Student Body President Cody Westphal said. “We’re preventing people from taking unsafe walks across campus to their dorm late at night.”

Other items from Tuesday’s meeting:

-Lydia Longoria was chosen and voted into the open position for the Finance Committee. She is the only woman on the committee.

-The secondary funding application is now open for student organizations that are looking for additional money.

-A bill to provide voting records of individual representatives was tabled to the Elections and Regulations Committee.

-A bill to fund eleven40seven, the TCU Journal of the Arts, has been tabled until the next SGA meeting in two weeks.