Without the pressure of speaking in perfect parliamentary procedure or dressing business casual, the Illinois Student Senate is making an effort to connect their interns with a relaxing night of bowling.

Jenny Baldwin, ISS chief of staff, wrote a resolution that will be discussed during the Wednesday meeting and believes the event is a huge resource for first-year members.

“First-year members have trouble making connections with other people because they are in committees and don’t really see other committee members or senators,” she said.

Baldwin said similar intern events have taken place in the past and are a great way for interns to meet in a casual manner and become more comfortable with people in the senate.

“I know it gets to be really formal at the senate meeting and this is a way for them to take the pressure off,” she said.

Although event attendees will mainly be interns, Ryan Young, vice president-external, said he thinks the event is important to the senate as a whole.

“The interns do a lot of the behind-the-scene work, whether it’s fact checking things or sitting in and serving as committee members,” he said. “Showing them we care about them will help them get closer to each other and ensures a more cohesive senate in the future, it’s something to keep the organization whole.”

One intern, Matt Hill, freshman LAS, said he thinks the event would be useful to interns.

“Every intern is assigned to a different staff and committee, and they don’t get to see each other,” he said. “One of the biggest parts of being an intern is making connections, not just (with) members of the student body and senators, but with other freshmen and interns.”

The financial affairs committee has allocated $321.36 for this event to cover the costs of the lanes, bowling shoes and pizza.

Corinne can be reached at [email protected].