By Ella Prieto, Managing Editor
Officer Reports
President Andrew Lemon ’24 reported that they had a great Get Acquainted Day, with current and future Executive Board members manning the Student Senate table at the Expo.
Parliamentarian Michael Woods ’25 informed everyone that the general senate elections along with class officers open after the meeting.
Treasurer Alfredo Roman Jordan ’26 provided a budget update, sharing that the Student Senate has paid or approved $86,134.
Inclusion Officer Abby Ruggiero ’26 stated that the Freedom of Expression survey is open until this Friday at noon and urged everyone to fill it out. Additionally, the last Inclusion Committee of the semester will be this Friday.
Director of the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life (OSAGL) and the Student Senate Advisor Jon Allen announced that OSAGL is looking for performers for the International Food Festival on April 27. If anyone is interested in performing, they should email the Associate Director of OSAGL Paige Redmond (predmond@gettysburg.edu).
Guest Speakers
The first guest speaker of the meeting was Vice President of Information Technology (IT) Rod Tosten ’85. He began by sharing the two major projects IT has worked on this semester: the completed Name Project and the $2.4 million investment in wireless infrastructure.
“Neither project could have been done without you raising these issues so that the entire College Administration could hear about the importance of them and the importance to your student experience,” said Tosten.
He then jumped into specifics about the changes to the wireless infrastructure. IT has already started this project, purchasing $300,000 worth of infrastructure. This is a part of Phase 1 of the project, which will involve 50 buildings, most of those being residence halls. Within that, there are 1,200 wireless access points and 50 switches that they need to address. The hope is that Phase 1 will be finished by the fall semester.
Additionally, Tosten explained how the College is looking to be more technologically efficient. Part of this will be that the paid version of Zoom will no longer be used. The College received Microsoft Teams and Cisco’s WebEx through other purchases from those companies, as those platforms provide the same service as Zoom, so the decision was made to cut it.
The College is also looking to provide high-impact technology to students, such as upgrading the equipment that students use the most in the Innovation and Creativity Lab.
Tosten concluded by again thanking the Student Senate for their advocacy.
“All this is because you have engaged with us and we want to keep hearing you engage with us. You’re important.”
The second guest speaker was the Chair of the Public Policy Department Dr. Anne Douds, who was there to discuss a proposal to make Public Policy a standalone major, as currently it requires a second major. Douds stated that her hope in coming to the meeting was to engage with stakeholders and hear feedback.
After providing an overview of Public Policy, she explained the department’s justifications for it to be a standalone major. To begin, the department now has more resources to make this possible. There are now three dedicated Public Policy faculty along with several adjuncts. Additionally, there are core Public Policy classes to satisfy the major.
Furthermore, the belief when Douds came to the College six years ago was that students needed to double major so that they had a substantive focus in their Public Policy major. However, by looking at five years of data, Douds has found that this did not work, as students were focusing on subjects in their Public Policy major that had little to do with their second major. This led to the creation of a concentration in Public Policy, which has worked well and would continue if it became a standalone major.
The final and most important justification for Douds is that requiring a double major removes choices from students and creates barriers to access that disproportionately impacts students of lower socioeconomic status.
Douds explained, “…I’ve got a list of honorary Public Policy majors who are students who come from predominantly lower socioeconomic status and/or lower social capital and don’t feel comfortable double majoring. And I’m not comfortable asking them to pick a double major just because that’s our rule.”
She also assured that Public Policy will work with other departments to use their classes and not pull students away from them. Moreover, students can still double major if they wish.
Douds stated that she would not make a motion for this in a faculty meeting until the fall as she is doing “incremental policy making” and wants to continue to engage with stakeholders. However, Financial Services has endorsed Public Policy being standalone.
Committee Reports
Chair of the Opinions Committee Dominic DiLuzio ’26 shared that the committee decided to pursue their grading opinion. They feel that it is not worth the strife with faculty members, but that they have laid the groundwork for future opinions.
Club Reports and Announcements
Hillel is hosting Q Shabbat at 6:30 p.m. in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Antica Napoli pizza will be served. They are also holding Passover Seder on Wed. Apr. 24 in the Atrium.
Registration is now open for Gamma Sigma Sigma fall recruitment.
The WGS Student Collective will be a new club starting next semester.
Walk a Mile will take place this Thursday on Stine Lake at 5:30 p.m.
Student Concerns
Lemon addressed some senators’ frustration with Meadville in his position as presiding officer, especially regarding an internal executive board argument that occurred last meeting. He assured that the executive board is handling things internally and that they remain steadfast in Meadville’s ability to lead the meetings.
Lemon then asserted his desire to create an Opinion pushing for the Economics and Finance major that was denied by the faculty.
Old Business
The discussion of advocating for the Economic and Finance major was continued in Old Business. The Student Senate agreed that would advocate for the major to be reconsidered.
New Business
An Opinion was proposed by the College Life Advisory Committee and Safety & Wellness that recommended the installation of window coverings in the residence hall bathrooms. After discussion, the Opinion was passed.
