By Ella Prieto, Managing and News Editor
Officer Reports
President of the Study Body Andrew Lemon ’24 had no officer report, simply wishing everyone a good week.
Vice President of the Student Body Geoffrey Meadville ’25 announced that this is the first week that senators need to attend a committee, and he emphasized the importance of committee attendance. He also said that one-on-ones are available for all senators who feel they need them. Meadville’s last announcement was for senators to please contact the Executive Board between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as Executive members have other commitments outside those times.
Parliamentarian Michael Woods ’25 then conducted the elections for Affinity Group Leaders. There are seven senators elected from each affinity group: Academic, Arts and Music, Cultural, Political, Religious, Service and Social.
Club Representatives voting in the Group Affinity Leaders election. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
The senators were voted by the Club Representatives and include Sam Martin ’24 for Political, Jack Joiner ’25 for Arts and Music, Ritik Sarraf ’26 for Academic, Bishruti Rijal ’26 for Cultural, Ethan Acevedo ’26 for Service and Alice Snguyen ’26 for Social. No Religious Affinity Group leader was elected.
Treasurer Alfredo Roman-Jordan ’26 then gave a budget update that the Student Senate has allocated $4,288. He also reminded Club Representatives to look out for emails and to watch the Engage Trainings for how to request from their base budget.
Inclusion Officer Abby Ruggiero ’26 announced that the Inclusion Committee was changing to Fri. at 2 p.m. in Glatfelter Hall Room 007.
Committee Reports
The new Committee Chairs were announced at this meeting and introduced themselves during their reports.
Academic and Career Affairs Chair Andrew Thibaudeau ’26 announced his plans to bridge gaps between administrators and students, create a standardized grading system and develop a mandatory recording of classes for students who miss them.
Academic and Career Affairs Chair Andrew Thibaudeau ’26 addressing the Student Senate. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Roman-Jordan reminded senators that the Budget Management Committee meets on Fridays at 3 p.m. in CUB 212.
Chair of the Board of Committee Chairs Meadville announced that the committee will be handling budget appeals and asked all chairs to stay behind for them to schedule their meeting. Senator Dominic DiLuzio ’26 will serve as Vice Chair of the Committee.
College Life Advisory Committee Chair Wesley King ’26 introduced himself and said he would be setting up a meeting time soon.
Chair of the Inclusion Committee Ruggiero stated that while the meeting this week is in Glatfelter 007, future meetings will take in the Penn Hall Lyceum. She also said that the goal of the committee is to present solutions to the administration regarding diversity, equity and inclusion issues.
Chair of Opinions Committee Maddie Maier ’26 and Vice Chair Belle Pedersen ’24 announced that they plan to meet on Thursdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and that they will be operating an Instagram to alert more students to their work.
Outreach Chair Nelson explained that the Committee entails communicating the Senate’s accomplishments and functions to the study body.
Rules and Administration (RAC) Chair Woods announced that the Committee may be changing to Mondays depending on people’s availability.
Wellness and Safety Chair Nicholas Pinto ’27 introduced himself and stated that he is working on creating a meeting time.
Club Reports and Announcements
Various clubs announced planned events in the upcoming weeks, including:
College Republicans hosting a Republican Presidential Debate Watch-Party in the Junction on Sept. 27.
The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center hosting a Speed Dating Event in The Attic on Sat.
The Gettysburg Writing Association hosting an Event at Waldos & Company this Thursday at 7 p.m.
American Association of University Women having its first meeting Sept. 27.
Gettysburg Debate having its first meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Student Concerns
Senator Jack Muphy ’24 expressed concern over an arrest at CJ’s Takeout and Late Nite Bites and wanted a comment by Campus Safety. Lemon said that he had also heard a lot of rumors about the incident and that he would reach out to Executive Director of Campus Safety Alex Wiltz for a comment.
Various international students then discussed a new college policy that forced those without an F1 Visa to pay for the College’s insurance, without an option to waive it. The students said that they were told this information only two months before they had to pay for it, causing many to struggle to come up with money. There were also concerns over how to make this money, as international students can only work on-campus and for a limited twenty hours a week.
Student Ratul Pradhan ’25 voicing concerns over International Students insurance plans. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Many senators expressed concern over learning this, and Lemon said he would speak with College Life to get clarification on this issue with hopes of solving it. Dean of Students Jeff Foster was not available to speak about the issue at this meeting, but he plans to address it next week.
Lemon then gave updates on student concerns from last week. He shared that he reached out to Director of Infrastructure and Computing Thomas Franza about the spotty Wi-Fi. Franza said that G-Tech is severely understaffed, so they are struggling to deal with these issues. However, there is a web link where students can report outages.
In a discussion with Alex Wiltz, Lemon learned that the bar keys are now only available for the times in between when a student loses a key and the locksmith comes to replace their lock. However, they are working with the locksmith to have bar keys to become available for room lock-outs.
Additionally, Wiltz explained that the fee for three room lock-outs is in place because last year there were over 4,000 lockouts which accounted for 48% of calls. Campus Safety is hoping the fee will reduce these calls, but they are also open to other suggestions and options.
New Business
An amendment was brought to the floor from RAC that will allow for class cabinets to become Student Senate-recognized organizations. This would allow them to request money from the Senate for various events and programs. Part of the amendment, however, was that the cabinets could only request money if no funding was available through the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life.
After some discussion, the amendment was tabled to next week.
A discussion about the monetary trip policy was also tabled for next week.
Vice President Geoffrey Meadville ’25 addressing the Student Senate. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
