By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Officer Reports
President Andrew Lemon ’24 commented on the tight races for the President, Vice President and Inclusion Officer elections that took place last week. He thanked everyone who ran and congratulated those who won.
Vice President Geoffrey Meadville ’25 further explained that this election had the highest number of people voting in five years, with over 500 students participating. He thanked the student body for a great turnout and reminded senators that there are only four weeks left of the school year.
Parliamentarian Michael Woods ’25 also thanked everyone for the great turnout and shared that applications for technocratic positions, including secretary, parliamentarian and treasurer, have been released.
Treasurer Alfredo Roman Jordan provided a budget update. The Student Senate has paid or approved $81,179.
Guest Speakers
There were two guest speakers at the meeting: Executive Director of Counseling and Wellness Krista Dhruv and Student Advisor to the Honor Commission Caroline Gill ’24.
Dhruv presented first, explaining that Counseling and Wellness employs a holistic approach, with both prevention and intervention being at the core of their services. Prevention includes their Seven Wellness Dimensions for Gettysburg College and their various campus-wide programming. Intervention is provided with clinical services, UWill teletherapy and the Crisis on Call.
She then discussed national college trends that highlighted how college students are now more educated about their mental health than ever before. This impacts how Counseling and Wellness operates, as they want to provide customized care.
Dhruv then shared statistics from the department. In the 2022-2023 academic year, Counseling and Wellness served 595 students, accounting for 27% of the population. Some of the top presenting issues were anxiety, relationship issues, depressive symptoms and self-esteem.
The floor was then opened for feedback from two questions Dhruv asked: Do Counseling and Wellness’ current offerings align with what students expect in terms of wellness and mental health, and are there other student wellness and mental health initiatives you think are worth exploring?
Meadville expressed concern over Counseling and Wellness becoming too intertwined with certain areas of campus such as Residential Education. He elaborated that the Wellness Dimensions being a requirement for first-year students to learn, as well as for Residential Assistants (RAs) to teach, can take away from their meaning.
Roman Jordan recommended they utilize a different way to schedule sessions, such as self-scheduling so that there is less back and forth to find a time to meet.
Lemon proposed initiatives such as a HeadSpace group subscription for students, yoga and other fitness classes and having a day for puppies or kittens to come to campus.
Senator Hannah Repole ’24 asked what avenues Counseling and Wellness have been utilizing for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts.
Dhruv responded that they are doing more work throughout the college community, especially by going to places where students are, such as International Student Services and the Office of Multicultural Engagement. Repole recommended they go to College Theme Houses as well.
Senator Owen Labruna ’24 asked how much the services cost. Dhruv responded that they are all free unless there is a second cancellation within 24 hours for an appointment, in which case there is a fee.
Dhruv concluded by reminding students that Community Wellness Day is Apr. 17 from 2-4 p.m. on Stine Lake.
Gill then took over to provide the results from two surveys compiled by the administrative, faculty and student advisors of the Honor Commission about Gettysburg College’s Honor Code. One survey was for faculty and received 78 responses. The other was for students and received 263 responses.
After sharing some history about the Honor Code, Gill jumped into the results. 48% of students felt positively about the Honor Code while 6% felt negatively and 46% felt neutral. On the faculty side, 34% felt positive, 26% felt negative and 40% felt neutral.
The Commission concluded that the current culture around academic integrity is low, which was supported by student and faculty responses. Gill shared notable statistics, such as 40% of students do not report classmates in violation of the Honor Code, 20% of students say they have violated the Honor Code and 23% of professors proctor exams in their classes.
The Honor Code is continuing to meet with departments and present their results to begin their drafting of the revised Honor Code. Additionally, the Commission is holding open discussions with students on April 4, 9 and 11 in Glatfelter Hall 104.
The floor was then opened for questions and concerns. Meadville expressed his belief that professors should continue to not proctor exams, as when they do it makes college feel like high school. Furthermore, he stated that the faculty needs to do a better job following the Honor Code.
Roman Jordan asked that more restorative action be taken when Honor Code violations occur. Member of the Honor Commission Riley Meyers ’24 shared that the faculty member involved in the case must also be in agreement with a restorative action, which can be a challenge.
A student asked Gill how the Commission is working towards mitigating reports that arise from students misinterpreting an accommodation. Gill answered that the Commission is meeting with Assistant Dean for Student Accessibility Theresa Hoover about how to best do that later this week.
Committee Reports
The Opinions Committee met with the Faculty Council last week. Chair Dominic DiLuzio ’26 reported that they were unreceptive to their presentation, only allowing them ten minutes of the meeting with no discussion following. Furthermore, members were told they would be sent a follow-up email.
The Safety and Wellness Committee is continuing to work with Gettysburg Police Department Chief Robert Glenny to schedule a time to meet. This week, the committee hopes to work on a survey regarding police presence on campus.
Club Reports and Announcements
Relay for Life is taking place this Sat. from noon to 7 p.m. in Musselman Stadium.
Gettysburg Debate is hosting an After Hours event in Glatfelter Lodge on Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m.
Lambda Chi Alpha will be hosting Watermelon Bust on April 20. All proceeds will go to Feed America, and shirts can be purchased here.
Hillel is hosting Passover Seder on April 24 in the Atrium from 6 to 8 p.m.
Student Musical Theater is performing Yawdaorb! in the CUB Junction on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Young Americans for Freedom is hosting a discussion about abortion with guest speaker Trent Horn on Thursday in CUB 260 at 6:30 p.m.
The Gala & Fashion Show will take place on April 20.
The Women, Gender and Sexuality Department is having its Central Pennsylvania Consortium entitled “Intersectional Perspectives on Gender and Trans Lives” on April 6. Student panels will take place from 9:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with guest speaker Dr. K. Marshall Green following.
Student Concerns
Student Concern updates were sent out via email by Lemon due to the meeting’s time constraint.
Senator Alex Rosado ’24 shared a concern that the Bullet Hole would stop serving breakfast. Roman Jordan shared that the Bullet Hole will open at 10 a.m., so breakfast will most likely not be served.
Budget Requests
Muslim Student Association (MSA) came back to the Student Senate to request money for their Eid services that Religious & Spiritual Life could not fund, as previously believed. The BMC recommended $650. The Student Senate allocated the full recommended amount.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article stated incorrect statistics regarding the Honor Code Survey (-E. Prieto).
