By Leah McCann, Staff Writer
On Monday, Oct. 25, Student Senate formally recognized the new Parliamentarian, Alexis Jones ’24, reviewed last week’s amendment proposals for the Constitution, and discussed the agenda for the complete overhaul of the Constitution. Vice President Colin Hughes ‘23 ran the meeting in place of President Sydney Quan ‘22.
New Parliamentarian Announcement
Alexis Jones ‘24 was welcomed to the Student Senate as the new Parliamentarian.
Budget Update
Treasurer Connor Heath ‘23 announced that there has been a total of $26,984.45 spent, which will be double-checked in the upcoming week by the Budget Management Committee.
Heath also announced that if budget requests are sent in after 5:00 pm on Thursdays, they will not be reviewed until the following week.
There were no further budget requests.
Committee Announcements
The Policy Committee wishes to remind members and the general student body of meetings, which are Fridays at 3 pm. Participation is encouraged for anyone who wishes to be informed of modifications and decisions to be made in Senate meetings.
The Opinions Committee will be meeting this coming Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. to look into the heating and cooling situations in social spaces. Students are advised to attend if they would like to discuss or be informed of the issue before it comes onto the floor. Additionally, budget transparency on behalf of the College will be addressed.
Secretary Evelyn Datte ‘24 announced that the Outreach Committee is “getting things done,” with discussions of launching an Instagram series and updating the Senate website with headshots of the current members. The Committee continues to meet Mondays at 1:00 pm in CUB 208.
Committee dinners will be held Thursdays at 6 p.m. (location TBD) to gather input on student discussions and start conversations. Matt James ’22 stated that the gatherings will be a helpful way to make meetings “be more efficient and effective” and will “form camaraderie and give us time to update one another on what we’re doing.”
Guest Speaker Announcement
Members received a reminder of the next Senate meeting’s event with Tracie Potts, executive director of the Eisenhower Institute, who will be speaking on political respect and identity. It was stated that “having as many people as possible will make this [discussion] productive”.
Club Announcements
Biosphere announced that it will be hosting an event to build resumes for upperclassmen in biology and the natural sciences (time and location TBD).
Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian organization, will be holding its first meeting this coming Thursday 10/28 at 7:00 pm on the third floor of Glatfelter Hall (exact location TBD).
Sam Martin ’24 made an announcement for the general student body regarding the Human Rights petition, which intends to “improve the lives of students on campus” by raising wages, taking a closer look into issues such as domestic violence, Black Lives Matter, and other social concerns. If interested, she encourages students to contact her for more information.
Alexander Bove ‘24 made another announcement for the general student body regarding the discussion with President Bob Iuliano on raising student wages, to which the President replied that he “does not wish to raise the wage because money should be directed toward tuition assistance” and admitted to “dropping the ball” on discussing raising student wages with a committee.
Student Concerns
There were inquiries about the modifications being made to the Constitution and if the proposals could be sent out with the agenda. It was agreed that this could be arranged.
Rock Swartz ’22 addressed the mental health concerns of students, stating that they were not able to enjoy Reading Days because of midterms immediately following the time off. He inquired the voting members if a mental health day would be helpful, to which there “seemed to be a lot of support”. Members requested to establish an opinion on the floor in the meeting, but Hughes stated that the matter needs to go through the Opinions Committee first and can only be edited once presented to the Senate.
Old Business
Datte reviewed the amendments from last week.
The Committee Chair amendment gives the “ability to terminate a Committee Chair in case of a constitutional violation, with the consent of the Executive Board taken by majority vote.” It also necessitates a 30-minute discussion between the President of the Senate and Committee Chair before the Chair’s termination. This amendment was approved.
The Inclusion Committee amendment, which primarily designates specific duties that separate the Inclusion and Diversity Committees, was approved.
The Diversity Committee powers amendment, which dictates that the Diversity Chair will be working in partnership with student organizations to ensure that minorities on campus are given proper representation and have the opportunity to participate in voting processes, was approved.
The Student Alumni Association (SAA) amendment, which establishes a plan to keep the SAA alive was approved. One class officer from each year will be required to be part of the SAA with meetings three times a year. The President of each class year will have the final say on which Officer will be at those meetings. Director of Student Activities and Greek Life Jon Allen clarified that this would take effect next semester. Class officers will also be notified of the change.
New Business
Jones went over the Constitution Overhaul plan that the Senate is currently working through, which aims for more structure, equal power, consolidation, clarification, and accessibility in the document.
The timeline will run as follows: review, consensus, parliamentary checks, read-throughs, discussions, and finalization of the Constitution. The goal at the end of the agenda is to have a working and clarified Constitution.
The elements that the Senate intends to include in the new document include understandable language, flowcharts and clarifying graphics, a table of contents, and a change log which clearly outlines the original amendments and how the modifications provided improvement. To properly provide these elements and most effectively do so, the Senate has been examining other schools’ examples, primarily Franklin & Marshall, Amherst College, and Dickinson.
Heath mentioned the goal of the overhaul is to “rewrite the whole document in general,” stressing the importance of member input to provide the best version of the document. By May, the group hopes to complete the overhaul.
The Senate is also extending these modifications to the website and prioritizing its visual quality for as much clarity as possible. Datte stated that the Constitution is currently linked to the site, but the group is actively working to make the document more presentable.
The Senate will next meet on Monday, November 1.
