By Andrew Thibaudeau, Staff Writer
Monday’s meeting introduced a proposal for substantial changes to Senate that would closely align the functions of Gettysburg College’s Senate to other institutions.
Officer Reports
Statements about increased counseling accessibility were made, along with a mention that counseling would be more closely tailored to the needs of individuals instead of a “one-size-fits-all” format.
There will also be BMC and inclusion meetings available to all students.
There were mentions about a future meeting to discuss concerns surrounding the cheer team regaining their travel privileges.
Student Concerns
There were three student concerns brought to Senate’s attention. One student voiced that they wanted to hear an admissions officer speak about admission trends. Another stated his concern about there being no yellow mustard available in the Bullet Hole. The last concern focused on the library’s vending machine being broken.
Senate Proposals
Proposals started off with an amendment that concerned organization’s budget requests. This amendment would permit organizations to request up to five-hundred dollars per semester without attending a Senate meeting. Any requests either exceeding or additional to the first five-hundred dollars would therefore have to be brought before the Senate for approval.
Senator Carl DeMarco ’25 wished to amend the proposal by giving each club the ability to request up to eight-hundred dollars per year, rather than per semester, without having to bring the budget to a Senate meeting. He stated that he believes this would force clubs to be more financially responsible, and other members agreed. DeMarco’s change to the proposal was passed. The entire amendment was tabled.
The next proposed amendment was one that had been given to Senate multiple times before. Concerning Senatorial suspension, this amendment desired to change some elements about the suspension process. With discussions from the weeks prior, it was decided that suspensions could either be temporary, lasting for only a couple weeks, or permanent, lasting for a semester. The amendment passed with minimal discussion.
Next, the Grant of Authority proposal tabled from the week prior was reintroduced. This grant regards the Board of Committee of Chairpersons. The proposal was more agreeable amongst Senate members due to changes to it made prior to the meeting. Treasurers would only be permitted to observe budget request-based meetings and could not vote. The proposal was passed.
Monday concluded with the proposal of an enormous overhaul to Senate. Vice President Geoffrey Meadville ’25, who was backed by President Miranda Zamora ‘23, stated that he would like to see the vice president in a more active role. He referenced the fact that he felt nonproductive at all times other than election season, while various past presidents claimed to be “swamped” in work and “overwhelmed.”
Zamora described her current situation as president and feeling “extreme burnout” in the position. She stated that she felt like her workload had increased by “ten times” since being promoted from vice president to president.
This proposed amendment would alleviate the workload of the president. This would give the responsibility of running Senate meetings to the vice president, and the parliamentarian would be responsible for running elections. This amendment also proposed the transfer of impeachment responsibility from the parliamentarian to the vice president.
DeMarco voiced his disagreement with the proposal.
“As someone who has been investigated, I will say that I really did enjoy the impartiality of the parliamentarian and his knowledge, deliverables, deposition, and knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order and the procedures,” said DeMarco. “My concern is putting it in the hands of a person who does not know the rules as well.”
Parliamentarian Joey Labrie ’25 responded to DeMarco’s concern and shared his confidence in the other executives to know the rules of Senate. Hoping to assuage any concerns Senate members may have, Zamora added that the vice president would be allowed to consult the parliamentarian with questions regarding investigations.
A subsection was added to this amendment stipulating that an impeachment investigation could only begin if there were five letters of complaint filed against a member. Labrie said that this was added in response to Senate trying to avoid baseless investigations.
Senate tabled this proposed amendment and will return to it after spring break.
Finally, the opinion from last week surrounding students who are upset over current compensation for working part-time on campus was brought back to the table. Senate agreed that the wording and formatting had improved since being edited and decided to pass it. Student concerns about unfair compensation for on-campus part-time workers will now be brought to the college’s attention in the near future.
