On April 20, 2026, the Rowan Student Government Association (SGA) held its last senate meeting of the semester, where they announced the fiscal budget for the 2026-27 year, and students expressed concerns about the preachers on campus. 

Current Chief Financial Officer, Molly Fitzpatrick, talked about the allocations made by the Student Financial Control Board.

“SGA is projected to receive $1,778,389 in revenue from student fees for FY27. The SFCB has allocated all of these funds,” said Fitzpatrick. “If a club requested above their assigned tier but did not have valid credit appeals… they were allocated a budget based on their tier placement.”

Some of the biggest club decreases hit Rowan Television Network, which saw an $11,250 decrease from their previous fiscal budget of $45,000, bringing it down to $33,750.

Beauty In Distress also saw over half of their budget decrease, going from $8,000 to $3,001. 

Once the budget was read, the floor was open for questions, but club senators asked almost none. With that in mind, the fiscal 2026-27 budget was passed. 

During the student concerns portion of the senate, Laila Blanchard, a representative from Rowan YDSA, spoke about the injustices they are facing. 

“The trans communities are having their rights, healthcare, and safety systematically stripped away by our government, and it feels that the world refuses to notice. Here at Rowan, that apathy is deeply felt. While GAYpril events are nice, they do nothing to address the problems faced by queer students and staff on campus today,” said Blanchard. “Rowan likes to brag about how highly rated a university [we] are. Did you know that we’re rated among the nation’s top colleges? Or that we’re in the top 50 undergraduate business schools? I’m sure you have, because Rowan has their accomplishments plastered on every window in Business Hall. Well, according to the same Princeton Review, Rowan also ranks in the bottom 20 of LGBTQ friendly schools, but you won’t see them bragging about that at Business.”

Blanchard also called out the threats YDSA faced for protesting the preachers who came on campus. 

“Also, I would like to point out when queer students banded together to protest the harassment that we face on campus, we were met with so much resistance and hatred it was almost shocking,” said Renshaw. “Let’s go down the list together. A student at the University threatened to throw rocks at us. The day of the protest, he showed up with the rocks. They were confiscated by the Rowan Police, and then he was allowed to stay. Then, he showed up to three more club events, standing outside or circling the events, then leaving. To our knowledge, nothing’s happened to that guy.” 

Finally, Blanchard called out the administration for penalizing YDSA for protesting.

“The irony is not lost on us that, despite the fact that we are the targets of hatred and potential violence, Rowan has only conducted investigations into us. A man throws rocks at our protest, nothing happens to him, but someone writes a mean letter about Houshmand, and the whole organization is put at risk,” said Blanchard. “People vandalize Gay Pod routinely, and the only ones charged with vandalism are us because someone wrote ‘Trans Rights for All’ in chalk on the Owl. This is how Rowan protects its queer students- by sweeping our harassment under the rug, excusing the people who threatened us, and trying to intimidate us into going away. I can promise you this. We will not shut up, we will not go away.”

After that, President Hope Campbell assured them that a change will be made. 

“I don’t like that those are the things you are going through, as well as every student here. No matter how you identify, you should feel safe to walk around campus, let alone in your dorms,” said Campbell. “I’m gonna say please come see us afterwards so we can actually get this done, especially if you already brought this issue to administration and they haven’t done anything. I’m gonna let you know before I graduate, we’re gonna get something together because that is not okay.” 

After that, the senator for Rowan Ad Club, Isaac Rojas, spoke in support of the preachers and said they are not doing anything wrong. 

“The preachers and brothers, Kyle and Luke, regularly stand preaching at the Christian gospel, right? And according to Rey Mills, co-chair of the Queer Rights Working Group, their preachers target members of the LGBTQ community, right? Saying they claimed that they even had a whole sign last time saying homosexuals are sinners and this and that, and they would call the students, I’m not sure I can say that word, it’s an S-word, but they specifically target queer individuals, right? I would see charged language against the preachers, right? And I will also pass by, and I’ve talked to these preachers, right? And they’re good people, right? I’ve never seen them do anything; they just preach the bible. They just tell the word of God, right,” said Rojas. 

Rojas also said that YDSA deserves to be protested against.

“I’m Christian myself. I know this because I’m biased or not, but I just gotta say it because the queer rights groups are the same; they’re the ones being harassed, but you give what you get,” said Rojas.

What followed was various student senators and representatives speaking against Rojas and his statements.

Isabella Interiano, senator for Rowan Navigators, spoke against and said that love was always the answer. 

“I just wanted to say that this treatment was never okay. It doesn’t matter what color you have, what race you are, what you believe in, what you identify as; love was always the choice, and that is not what Jesus represents. Jesus never said that humans are supposed to persecute other humans, like the man that was just up here said he did say turn the other cheek,” said Interiano. “We are ultimately called to love one another and to show grace and love always. So I empathize with all of you who have gotten harassed and haven’t been treated unequally, because that was never okay. You are humans, and that will not be my God, that I believe is a just God, and He will take care of what is immoral and what is not okay.”

After the Senate, the Rowan Ad Club released a statement on its Instagram regarding Rojas’s position as senator. 

“We are providing a follow-up regarding the statement made at Senate on April 20, 2026. Our former senator has stepped down. This decision was based solely on the misrepresentation of RAD and not on any personal beliefs. We remain committed to fostering a safe and welcoming space for all students. We appreciate your support,” the statement said.