By Sarah Laud, Staff Writer
President Sydney Quan ’22 called Senate to order on the evening of April 4. Secretary Evelyn Datte ’24 took roll and officer reports began.
Quan opened with formally congratulating the two new elects for Senate positions. Congratulations to President Elect Miranda Zamora ’23 and Vice President Elect Geoffrey Meadville ’25. Their formal induction into their roles will take place soon. Quan also took time to thank everyone who helped with the Senate Open.
Zamora announced that she is available for check-ins if people interested in running for technocratic, inclusion, or class positions have any questions. Applications for these positions are still open. Overall, more positions are open this election, which means she expects to have more questions come to her.
Zamora clarified the election rules to remind the floor of fair campaigning. As such, flyers are not permitted in academic buildings or in the library and those posted up in residence halls must have approved permissions by that hall. She emphasized that students helping others in their campaign must be aware of the rules.
Treasurer Connor Heath ’23 updated the floor on Senate’s budget. Money allotted is in the amount of $91,511, where Senate has spent $65,630.64. There is $25,870.36 left with a rollover fund of $41,994.53. Heath also announced that there are three weeks left to submit a budget request for a club or organization to Senate.
Secretary Datte thanked the floor for attending the Student Senate Open House. She also gave thanks to everyone who helped with the event coordination in order for it to run smoothly. In regards to election season, Datte is encouraging anyone who is interested in running for Senate secretary to reach out to her.
Inclusion Office Alexandros Economou ’22 encouraged anyone who is interested in running for inclusion officer to reach out to him. He reminded the floor that to be the Inclusion Officer, no prior Senate experience is required. Though, Inclusion Officer does require a substantial amount of outreach given the position’s involvement with organizations and clubs on campus.
This week, President of Gettysburg College Bob Iuliano came to Senate as the guest speaker. With the activity going on on campus, Iuliano offered some insight. Quan said, “we are super lucky to get a couple of updated from Bob’s point of view.” It is not frequently that Senate has any administrative attendees.
Iuliano began, “Man, has it been a couple of years.” He recognized that the emergence from the pandemic has not been easy for anyone, and acknowledged that things are harder academically as well as socially. He emphasized that one of the main goals and commitments of the college is to ensure that Gettysburg’s education is accessible. “We are working hard to put resources behind that,” Iuliano said.
Since 2012, the college has doubled their financial aid. As such, students are spending 33% less to attend Gettysburg than previously. Further, yearly tuition increases are the lowest they have been in decades. $88 million is spent annually on financial aid. To put it in perspective, it costs the college $118 million to run the school.
“I can’t go into the entire complexity of the finances of a higher education institution, however we have made a commitment to ensuring that this institution is affordable for students,” Iuliano said. The college seeks to ensure that talented students want to come.”
Aside from finances, the college is also rethinking the curriculum. As a liberal arts institution, the college is dedicated to ensuring that students are prepared with whatever they come across in the real world. Sometimes, this preparation does not have to be academic. For example, Iuliano said the creation of the J-Term was to allow students to gain more practical knowledge outside of the classroom. Overall, the administration is looking for a comprehensive review of the curriculum, which they put on pause this semester.
Iuliano also mentioned how overall student well-being is crucial. “There is a growing demand for students to navigate the dimensions of our time,” he said. This navigation is not just emotional, but through academic and professional dimensions as well. The Student Success Center was created to make a ground level accessibility resource for students. The college is also looking to cultivate the Center for Career Engagement as well to enhance the resources available to students.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is also a field that the college strives to continue to improve on. “We are approaching this work in a more systematic and engaging way,” Iuliano said. As such, they are in search of a new chief diversity officer to lead future progress.
Before the floor opened up to student opinion, Iuliano outlined some of the ongoing challenges, specifically staffing issues. Currently, the college is lacking staff hiring in dining and facilities services. Students and faculty have both noticed the effects of under-staffing, specifically in dining services.
“We are working on it and we appreciate your patience and input as we figure out how to move forward,” Iuliano said. As of right now, the college has increased the compensation of entry-level workers by 37% in hopes to bring in interest.
After Iuliano spoke, student opinions were voiced concerning off-campus housing, communication between administration and the student body, and patterns of faculty departures.
A common theme in Senate and campus-wide is the administration’s decision to phase out off-campus housing. A student brought up concern that the administration’s intention is to limit the freedom of Greek Life, Athletics, and other organizations from having a space of their own off-campus. The same student said, “you will need to tell the incoming class the reality of what is going on. If you promise them off-campus housing while they are a prospective student, like the college did with us, we expect that promise to be upheld.” This student also mentioned that the Athletic and Greek Life experience will plummet without off-campus living. To that, Iuliano made it clear that he has no intention to interfere with Greek Life in any way.
“I’m sure there were better ways we could have approached this,” Iuliano went on about the off-campus housing policy changes. “Our goal is to approach this residential institution with a holistic point of view,” he said. In trying to improve DEI and withholding up to the standards of a four-year residential college, Gettysburg is hoping that pushing people together will allow for a more cultural and collaborative experience. As a solution to the student concerns that have frequently come to President Iuliano’s attention, he proposed a solution. “Let’s figure out what we can create on campus to have the experience of off-campus housing,” Iuliano said.
Students also brought up concerns with the transparency between administration and students. Iuliano expressed that he strives to increase communication with students and welcomes dialogue. “There is a partnership that needs to take place,” a student said. Students on the floor felt that all the decisions made this year have been without student consideration. “I’m trying hard to hear from students,” Iuliano said.
Regarding the review of the curriculum, students brought up their noticing that less classes are being offered and more faculty are leaving. Iuliano said that the decrease in class offering is not an administrative issue, but a departmental issue. One student mentioned that only are more faculty leaving, but faculty of color and marginalized groups are leaving too. Iuliano responded by saying the administration is aware that they need to pay attention to these groups. President Iuliano is currently looking into this further to try to identify the reasons behind this issue. There also have been hiring freezes placed on professors. The motivation of this was questioned. Iuliano emphasized that it is a COVID related issue and that College institutions are not the first place that people are looking to build a career in. “15%-17% of our workforce has turned over,” Iuliano said.
After President Iuliano ended his time on the floor, budget requests began with Dianna Biesecker of Gettysburg Environmental Concerns Organization. Her request was in the amount of $400 to find Earth Day Festival’s Eco-Fair. The budget was passed in full by the floor.
The second budget request came from the International Club to fund Holi Fest in the amount of $1,500. The budget was passed in full by the floor.
Out Questioning Straight requested funding of their hosting Queer Prom. Their request was in the amount of $1,100 and was passed in full by the floor
The final budget request came from The Women’s Network in the amount of $295.00 to host Charcuterie and Chat. The request was passed in full by the floor.
Club reports and announcements began with Zamora regarding a training session being taken place about respect in Senate.
Safety announced their continuing discussion on the Medical Amnesty Policy which will be shared with Senate soon.
Student concerns began. First, there was a comment about current food plans. Now that dining options have decreased, a student brought up the fact that food plan prices have stayed the same despite the drastic change in availability. There was an attempt to bring this concern to administration, however it was not followed through with.
Second, there was concern about the Campus Climate Survey not getting enough responses from students, therefore skewing the results. Dean of Students Anne Ehrlich, who also attended this week’s Senate meeting, responded saying that there was enough representation across the respondents overall, However, there is not enough student representation for their responses to have statistical significance.
Old business from last week was brought up regarding the new Class Officer Amendment. The amendment would allow sophomores and juniors interested in running for class officer to run on a joint ticket given if one candidate will be going abroad. The motion to pass the amendment in full was approved.
New business included another Constitutional Amendment. Policy is looking at the organization of Senate meetings regarding Standing Rules. Discussion was created and the motion to bring the amendment back to the committee to be revised was passed.
Senate was adjourned.
