Undergraduate Student Government General Assembly Passes an International Student Emissary Seat for the 59th General Assembly. Credit: Josephine Pajemola | Lantern Reporter
The Undergraduate Student Government aims to expand their representation to add an international student emissary seat for this academic year.?
A resolution creating the position passed the USG General Assembly meeting Wednesday.
An emissary seat is a position in the USG that would serve a group of people deemed underrepresented for the duration of the academic year. This position will have full membership rights within the General Assembly, including voting, according to the resolution.
“We are, right now, in a time where many international students, and those with immigration status, might feel more afraid about their livelihoods being targeted,” Braxton Glover, the USG speaker and the resolution’s primary sponsor, said in an address to the General Assembly.
The USG decision aims to give international students a voice within the student government and the chance to advocate for the international undergraduate student community on campus, Glover said.
“This opportunity is about increasing connection with the international student community,” Glover said. “[It will allow] us to figure out how we can better advocate for them here in USG.”
The responsibilities of the emissary seat include representing the undergraduate international student community, advising and shaping USG policies concerning international student affairs and maintaining communication with international student organizations and the Office of International Affairs, according to the resolution.
International undergraduates on campus make up 3,342 students, according to university analytics, a decrease of 579 students.
Chris Cade, the USG president, said with a population of this size, it is important that the USG adequately represents this part of the student body.
“There’s a population that is leaving Ohio State, and now a population that no longer has access to Ohio State,” Cade said. “The people who are here are facing increased scrutiny, whether that is racism, or discrimination based on their national origin and an overall lack of community.”
The resolution states that a portion of the university’s international student population had their visa status unexpectedly revoked in spring of last year as part of a wider termination across the U.S.
The resolution also states that this past summer, the United States Department of Homeland Security limited the legal stay for academic program purposes for future international students to four years or less, unless the student files an Extension of Stay and pays a filing fee between $420 and $470.
Cade said there should be an avenue for the international student community to have direct involvement and voice concerns with the USG.
In addition to bringing international undergraduate students’ concerns to the chamber, Cade said the aim of this emissary seat is also to foster a better space for international students to meet with each other at Ohio State.
With an international student emissary seat in the General Assembly, the USG can host constituency outreach events specifically catered toward the international undergraduate student population at Ohio State, Glover said.
“The hope is to have events like that with USG as a whole, not just the General Assembly, to better connect and specifically reach those international students,” Glover said.
In previous years, there has been hesitancy in creating an international student emissary seat for fear no one will fill it, Glover said. To this, he said to not create this position would be incongruous with what the USG is for.
“That, I believe, is what the General Assembly is about,” Glover said. “It is about opportunity.”
International undergraduate students interested in the position can apply for the position on the 59th General Assembly Autumn 2026 Vacancy Application form. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 7.
Should the emissary seat be filled this autumn, Braxton said, “We [would] have a new, incredibly valuable voice and connection with the international student community here at the Ohio State University.”
