By Katie Oglesby, Editor-in-Chief
Officer Reports
Monday’s Senate meeting began with the welcoming and induction of new members.
Treasurer Hannah Repole ’25 gave an update of the budget. She explained that Senate was allotted $92,116 for the entire academic year, and that $72,299.89 has been allocated already. Repole noted that not all of this has been spent; some of this has been allocated for events in the spring that have not happened yet. If the organizations allocated that money do not spend all of it, what they don’t spend will be added back to Senate’s budget.
Repole noted, though, that there is $18,576.11 left in the budget to allocate. The rollover fund, which has accumulated through previous year’s of underspending, has $21,489.53 in it.
Student Concerns
During student concerns, someone said they heard in the Gettysburg Times that Campus Safety was involved in an incident on campus and didn’t contact the police, even though they allegedly should have. Zamora said she would look into the issue and directed it to the Chair of Wellness and Safety Committee Dominic DiLuzio ’26.
Zamora also noted that she has been in contact with Mayor Rita Frealing, who would like to speak at an upcoming Senate meeting, though no details have been determined yet.
DiLuzio also noted that students have been having issues with classrooms in Breidenbaugh being locked during the class hours.
One student commented on smaller soups and mac and cheese offered at Bullet. Another student expressed concern about a lack of options for students with dietary restrictions in Servo. Zamora said those dining issues would be discussed in Student Life Committee.
Budget Requests
Alli Dayton ’23 brought forth a budget request for Mock Trial for $370 to cover food at a regional tournament. Senate already approved the funding for transportation and lodging. The budget was approved in full.
Co-President of Relay for Life Nicole Cesanek ’23 requested $4,250.53 for their annual event on April 1. BMC recommended $3,650 because part of this money included prizes and tax. Senate cannot constitutionally fund prizes and Senate is tax-exempt. The BMC recommended amount was approved, though Senate members expressed concerns about the cost of the t-shirts at the event. Senate member and Co-President of Relay for Life Caden Simons ’24 explained that this was the least expensive way to source the shirts, and that all the funds would go to charity.
In the new business portion, Senate members deliberated how best to handle the budget in the future so they may be in a better position for next spring semester. As well, they contemplated where to cap spending on their rollover fund.
Discussion about Budget
Zamora began the discussion by saying, “How should we be thinking about the budget in the future? What kind of ways can we help our clubs and organizations cut costs?”
Senate members suggested various methods of managing the budget for the future. Some members suggested that organizations with larger budget requests should be required to present them to Senate earlier in the academic year.
Senate advisor Jon Allen noted that it’s actually common practice for college student governments to require clubs with larger budget requests present them early in the year. He said Gettysburg is unique in its more “ad hoc” practice.
Michael Klatt ’25 said, “I think it’s really important to examine the equity of what we’re funding to make sure that if it’s a repeating event, the same people aren’t going every time. Because I know that was an issue with some budgets that had been passed last semester, and there were some gripes with that. And I think it’s really important to take a step back, look at it, and like, are multiple people being served by this or are we just paying for an expensive hobby for a few people?”
Clayton Brosend ’24 said that a constitutional change that could be made would be to change BMC meeting rules so that members don’t vote with the club in the room.
“I know personally, I felt like I have to vote for something because I know the person bringing it forward,” he said.
Repole bounced off this idea and said that another way they could do it with BMC is to have clubs present their budgets and then send out an email later about what is passed, so the conversational transparency is still there.
A few members brought up that they wondered if the Senate budget could be expanded in future years, but Allen noted that since Gettysburg College is a non-profit, there aren’t pools of money that can be pulled from elsewhere in the College.
The conversation eventually shifted to the rollover fund, which currently is $21,489.53. Members debated back and forth how much should be left in the rollover fund, if they were to pull from it this year. Drew Lemon ’24 advocated for leaving $20,000 in the rollover fund. Though, other members expressed that they don’t think it’s possible to spend less than $5,000 of the rollover fund this year.
Zamora explained that the rollover fund is usually used for donations to Mosaic Minds, which provides textbooks to students who can’t afford them. Allen elaborated that some of the money also goes to the Myra T. Heron Fund or Senate projects, like the bike share program and the lights of Stine Lake.
Senate did not determine a number at which to cap spending of their rollover fund for the semester. The conversation was tabled to next week.
Senate will meet again on Monday, Feb. 7.
