By Sophie Lange, Staff Writer
On Monday, the Student Senate held its final meeting of the year. At the meeting, Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano met with the Senate as a guest speaker, the inductions for the 2023-24 Senate took place and several policies were passed.
Guest Speaker
Iuliano began his discussion by emphasizing better communication between administration and the student body, and he asked Senate for advice.
The first topic of the discussion was student worker wages. Iuliano explained that the college needed to make the best decisions with its money, and he expressed that financial aid for students was the administration’s top priority in terms of its budget. He explained that the college’s financial aid offerings had increased by 50 percent in the last five years, and the administration had decided to spend less on upkeep and faculty and staff salaries in order to make the school more accessible. Iuliano also commented that he does not feel students understand the effect of increasing financial aid.
Student Senate President Miranda Zamora ’23 then opened the floor to questions.
Senator Alfredo Roman-Jordan ’26 said he felt the students understood the effect of increasing financial aid, yet since the overall amount of money the college receives has increased, student wages should as well. Roman-Jordan asked why the endowment fund was not being utilized.
Iuliano replied that most of the College’s operating budget comes from tuition and fees, so there is not more money. He also explained that the endowment fund is restricted, and the money in it cannot be spent outside of the purpose for which it was given. He also expressed that the college’s endowment fund is small relative to other colleges and reiterated that increasing financial aid is the top priority.
Senator Carl DeMarco ’25 raised questions about the reluctance of alumni to donate to the college’s new funding campaign due to changes in policies and departments. Iuliano said the campaign is still in its earliest stages of development. However, Iuliano also commented that Gettysburg Gives annual fundraiser had set a record high for every year that he has been at the college, so he did not see a reason as to why the campaign would be unsuccessful.
Senator Michael Klatt ’25 inquired about whether the budget structure had increased, decreased or plateaued. Iuliano said that the structure had largely stayed the same except that the aid had increased. He also confirmed that this year’s applicant pool was the largest in years.
Senator Olivia Taylor ’25 asked why budgets had been cut for departments such as education and Italian when student wages had not been increased. Iuliano again emphasized the necessity of making choices and explained that departments such as public policy need more investment due to their growing size.
Next, Zamora directed the discussion to the recent safety incidents on campus. Iuliano opened by asking students for advice on how to better handle these situations.
Senator Savannah Madeira ’25 suggested that Campus Safety make themselves more aware of rumors in order to disperse them more efficiently. Iuliano asked if the communications were too slow, and Madeira said that they were.
“By the time people heard about it from the college,… everyone had heard about it from their floor group chats and their friend groups chats. My mother had sent me a picture of a parent Facebook page before I heard about it from the school,” Madeira said.
Taylor expressed a concern that the college did not have enough information. She said the hours-long time span between the initial incident and the email gave too much time for rumors to circulate. She suggested that Campus Safety could send an email that they are aware of the situation and then could follow up.
Zamora agreed, expressing that an earlier email concerning the April 16 incident would have been beneficial.
Roman-Jordan asked why there was an increase in policing from the Gettysburg Police Department (GPD) on weekends but not weekdays. He asked Iuliano to speak with the mayor about policing, and Iuliano said that he had discussed this with the mayor previously. Iuliano declined to comment further.
Budget Update
Treasurer Hannah Repole ’24 gave the budget update. There is $5,859.30 remaining in the budget with another $18,699.53 in the rollover fund. Repole announced that Senate did not overspend this year.
Committee Reports
The Opinions Committee reported that their opinion on the cheer team was successful. The cheer team has been reinstated travel privileges and given updated equipment, including practice mats.
The College Life Advisory Committee (CLAC) reported that “Cook-out with the Cops” has been postponed indefinitely due to recent events on campus.
Old Business
Three pieces of budgetary policy were approved on Monday. The first policy changed the budget allocation limits to $1,600 on a yearly basis. The second policy codified the way the Budget Management Committee (BMC) is being run. The third categorized the different types of events as anchor, large or small events so that the current budget account can be split into separate accounts with funds allocated for each type of event.
Inductions
The following students were inducted into Student Senate for the 2023-24 academic year:
Class of 2024
Jack Comegno ’24, President
Gia Komst ’24, Vice President
Natalie Peck ’24, Secretary
Gwen Michaels ’24, Treasurer
Alex Rosado ’24, Senator
Evelyn Datte ’24, Senator
Jack Murphy ’24, Senator
Class of 2025
Joey Labrie ’25, President for Fall 2023
Hannah Repole ’24, President for Spring 2024
Isabella Roy ’25, Vice President for Spring 2024
Michael Klatt ’25, Secretary for Fall 2023
Michael Woods ’25, Treasurer
Ethan Foote ’25, Senator for Fall 2023
Lana Sader ’25, Senator for Fall 2023
Joey Labrie ’25, Senator for Fall 2023
Gabe Taub ’25, Senator for Fall 2023
Olivia Taylor ’25, Senator for Spring 2024
Hannah Repole ’24, Senator for Spring 2024
Lana Sader ’25, Senator for Spring 2024
Isabella Roy ’25, Senator for Spring 2024
Class of 2026
Aynsley Lane ’26, President
Maddie Maier ’26, Vice President
Connor Joyce ’26, Secretary
Rachel Herr ’26, Treasurer
Eliza Hoover ’26, Senator
Nick Ryan ’26, Senator
Dominic DiLuzio ’26, Senator
Conor Grubb ’26, Senator
The following students were inducted onto the executive board for the 2023-24 academic year:
Andrew Lemon ’24, President
Geoffrey Meadville ’25, Vice President
Grace Nelson ’26, Secretary
Alfredo Roman-Jordan ’26, Treasurer
Michael Woods ’25, Parliamentarian
Abby Ruggerio ’26, Inclusion Officer
April 28, 2023
Gettysburg must adapt to a new world.