By Ella Prieto, Managing and News Editor
Officer Reports
President Andrew Lemon ’24 began the meeting by thanking the guest speakers from IT for taking the time to be at the meeting. He also wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving break.
Vice President Geoffrey Meadville ’25 reminded senators to pay attention throughout the meeting and added that there will be no meeting next week.
Parliamentarian Michael Woods ’25 informed attendees that Committee Chair applications for the spring semester will be sent out this week. He also wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving break.
Treasurer Alfredo Roman Jordan provided a budget update, sharing that the Student Senate has spent $6,867 and allocated $41,084. He expressed that he felt the budget was in a good place.
Inclusion Officer Abby Ruggiero ’26 was not at the meeting, but Meadville shared their update that the next Inclusion Meeting will be held on Dec. 1.
Guest Speaker
The guest speakers for the meeting were Vice President of Information Technology Rod Tosten ’85 and Director of Infrastructure and Computing Thomas Franza. They discussed complaints about WiFi and YikYak that the Student Senate has brought forth.
Tosten began the meeting by sharing that IT is working to update preferred names in all College systems. They have met with 35 different departments and are in a testing phase right now, with hopes to go to production in January. He also said he will be sending out an email informing students how to change their name, which involves going into PeopleSoft’s Campus Experience and talking with Associate Dean for Inclusion and Belonging Cristina Garcia.
He then transitioned into the WiFi issues that have plagued the campus.
“We have to balance what students want with what students need,” said Tosten.
Students commonly use applications and sites that use a lot of bandwidth which puts a lot of strain on the WiFi and slows it down. The ones that use the most bandwidth include Xbox Live, Netflix, YouTube, iCloud and Facebook. For that reason, IT requests that students use wired networks.
Tosten then explained that IT also must consistently deal with cyberattacks and a large amount of people on the WiFi. Daily, there are about 7,000 devices on the College WiFi with more than 55,000 devices attempting to connect to it. This leads to the WiFi being slower than other systems that do not have to deal with these attacks.
Additionally, some of the technology, such as the wireless access points, are old and require updating. Due to the College finances, however, this has not been possible. Currently, Franza and his team are assessing the total cost of what needs to be replaced to present to the College.
Both Franza and Tosten told students to email them if they have any issues with the WiFi, as they can best fix the network with the most amount of information policy.
The floor was then opened to questions.
Roman Jordan asked where the attacks on the College’s cyber security were coming from. Tosten and Franza stated that they come from people trying to obtain valuable data from students and harvest central processing unit (CPU) power.
Senator Dominic DiLuzio ’26 asks if IT works with other companies to identify weak points in the network. Tosten shared that they work with several different security agencies to find vulnerabilities. Part of this includes penetration testing, which is when outside agencies try to get into the College’s network and take data. IT also participates in phishing campaigns for its cyber insurance, in which they send fake phishing emails to identify individuals who may fall for real ones.
DiLuzio then asked what information the College collects from people on their network. Tosten answered that cookies and logs, such as when a device connects, are collected but browser data is not.
In a similar vein, Cultural Affinity Group Leader Andrew Thibaudeau ’26 asked if Campus Safety collected students’ device locations. Tosten said that that data is mostly used for troubleshooting in IT, but it may be given over to Campus Safety if it is needed for an investigation.
Tosten and Franza ended by stating that IT cannot block YikYak from the campus for a variety of reasons, including that they have no control over the cellular network. Lemon also reiterated to the audience that if they have any issues with the WiFi, a ticket or email should be sent to Tosten or G-Tech.
Committee Reports
The Budget Management Committee allocated $881 during their last meeting.
The Board of Committee Chairs will have a meeting before Thanksgiving to discuss their transition period.
The College Life Advisory Committee will be meeting with Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Mike Bishop this Friday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in CUB 206.
Club Reports and Announcements
Alpha Phi Omega and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) are hosting a “Kindness Week.” On Tuesday and Thursday, they will be selling candy grams for $3, with all proceeds going to Safe Home. On Wednesday they will be inviting students to sign a thank you banner to Facilities. The week will end with a Pup Party on Stine Lake from 2-4 p.m. on Friday and a burn party where students can burn pieces of paper with their stressors written on them.
Students for Sexual Justice will have their last meeting of the semester on Nov. 27, during which they will make a protest banner and have donuts.
A student-led Vigil for Peace will take place Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Peace Pole.
QShabbat will occur this Friday at 6 p.m. in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. It will center around a discussion about gender identity and faith in Judaism.
Interfaith Thanksgiving will take place Sunday in the Chapel basement.
The Gettysburg Writer’s Association will have a poetry night at Waldo’s on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Student Concerns
Lemon provided updates on student concerns from last week. He met with the new Director of the Jaeger Center about fitness classes being canceled. She stated that the front desk staff can assist if these classes are canceled or an instructor does not show.
Lemon also reached out to the Aquatic Director about the reported flooding in the men’s locker room, which he is working on.
Additionally, Facilities has sent people to assess the silverfish and cockroaches reported in residence halls. They also stated that the College does have an exterminator who pretreats residence halls twice a year.
Facilities also stated that front loading wash holds more odors, but that they are cleaned as needed. If they do smell, a facilities report should be issued.
New concerns consisted of the steak served last Wednesday in Servo causing food poisoning and condiments in Bullet being replaced or bought.
Budget Requests
The International Club requested $100 for a Friendsgiving and Winter Crafts event. The Budget Committee (BMC) recommended $75, but the Senate passed the full $100.
Old Business
The Peace and Justice Studies Student Council’s budget from last week was brought back to the floor. After a discussion, the full $2,300 was allotted.
The Academic and Career Affairs Committee’s opinion on grade return guidelines was sent back to the committee to be reworked.
New Business
“A Student Worker Union” opinion was tabled indefinitely.
The opinion “Recommending the Increase of Internet Infrastructure and WiFi Capabilities at Gettysburg College” was sent back to the Opinions Committee to be reworked.
“The Enforcement of the Freedom of Expression Policy at Gettysburg College” was amended on the floor but ultimately sent to the Wellness and Safety Committee to be reworked.
