Student Senate 2/10: Debate Over Campus Outreach, Swing Set Project
(Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
By Brandon Fey, News Editor
Officer Reports
President Michael Woods ’25 began the meeting by reminding the Senate to complete the “Students’ Guide to Gettysburg” survey, which is a project by the Communications and Marketing office to compile the most preferred locations in the town
Parliamentarian Carl DeMarco ’25, speaking on behalf of the absent Vice President Abbey Ruggiero, requested that senators respond to their committee chairs as they work to schedule meeting times.
President Woods, speaking on behalf of the absent Treasurer Jack Thompson ’27, stated that is $41,000 remaining in the Senate’s budget for the academic year, which he explained was a good amount for early February.
Secretary Olivia Taylor ’25 announced that the Senator Open event will be held in collaboration with the Listeners and Performers campus organization and various house leaders. The theme of the open will be “jarty” (jeans party), with attendees encouraged to wear denim.
Taylor also requested that senate committees fill out committee attendance sheets for their meetings to keep track of attendance.
Inclusion Officer Oliver Eckloff ’27 announced that Inclusion & Belonging will host “National Origin Trivia” at the CUB Junction on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in partnership with the Vietnamese Student Association and the Senate Inclusion Committee.
Eckloff also shared that the Anti Racist Collective will host an “Understanding Racism” event on Thursday, Feb. 13 in CUB 260.
Senate Advisor and Director of Student Activities and Greek Life Jon Allen announced that the “Build-a-Bae” event will be held on Friday, Feb. 14 in the West Building from 7 to 9 p.m. and the campus-wide “Snowball Dance” will be on Saturday Feb. 16, in the CUB Ballroom from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Committee Reports
The Academic and Career Affairs Committee announced that it intends to start a student focus group on academic advising with Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Jeanne Hamming.
The College Life Advisory Committee plans to meet on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m.
The Inclusion Committee will meet on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in CUB 260.
The Opinions Committee will meet on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in CUB 230. The committee has received a preliminary quote for the swingset and is awaiting further correspondence from the company. It is also discussing drafting opinions on the other “Senate Shark Tank” proposals that were not selected at the previous meeting.
The Rules Committee plans to meet sometime during the afternoon on Tuesdays or Thursdays depending on the availability of its members.
The Wellness and Safety Committee will meet on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in CUB 206. It is currently considering the feasibility of previously-proposed campus changes including a new stairmaster for the Ortenzio Fitness Room in the Jaeger Center, high-pressure shower heads for residential halls, and changes to food from Dining Facilities.
Club Reports and Announcements
The Alpha Omicron Pi sorority will be having a table in the Bullet Hole for students to make “rose grahams” on Wednesday, Feb. 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Student Concerns
President Woods commented on the progress that has been made on previous student concerns:
Students experiencing issues with the ventilation above stove tops in the Ice House Complex should submit facilities reports if they still are not.
The washing machine and dryers in the Ice House Complex have both been repaired.
The exhaust system for the dryers in Hanson Hall will be fixed soon.
The heating in Ice House 203 has been repaired.
The lack of heat in the International House has been resolved.
The problem of too much heat in Musselman Hall was also addressed.
The reports of ants in Weidensall Hall and issues with hot water in the Jaeger Center are currently being investigated.
Associate Vice President of Facilities Planning & Management James Biesecker said that there are 18 months (including summer months) remaining of the College’s contract with its laundry provider, Speed Queen. Once this has ended, the College and Senate will be able to discuss alternative providers if desired.
The floor was then opened for students to voice new concerns:
Multiple students reported that since Thursday, Feb. 6, the Speed Queen mobile app has not been working for the laundry machines in Musselman and Patrick Halls. The machines can only be used to work with quarters at this time.
The numbers of the laundry machines in Patrick Hall do not correspond to those on the app, preventing students from paying for the correct machine.
Several students have reported becoming ill after consuming food from Abe’s Favs and the salad section of the Bullet Hole. The sickness appears to have emanated from a variety of food items.
The kitchen faucet in Hanson Hall continues to leak despite having been inspected by Facilities Services.
The printer in the West Building has been out of toner for a few days.
4 of the 6 3D-printers in the Innovation and Creativity Lab in the West Building have been broken for the past few months, and the website has allegedly not been updated with information for whom to contact about it.
There was a request for Senate budget reports stating how much was spent. Jon Allen stated due to the nature of the budget process, the Senate could only accurately report on the amount allotted to organizations as opposed to what was spent.
Woods made note of the new concerns and said that he will present them to the proper staff and administrators.
Budget Requests
The Newman Association, represented by club president Hailey Clark, requested $3,500 to finance the club’s participation in a 3 day religious conference for college students in Virginia. The conference will be held during the liturgical season of Lent from March 21 to 23.
Clark stated that the conference would cost $250 for each student. 12 have already signed up, and the association wanted enough money for 14 students in total, with any unused money being returned to the Senate.
She also said that the Catholic Campus Ministry will be sending two advisors, who will be covering their own expenses, and will contribute $80 to the trip. All Gettysburg students are welcome to attend.
The request was approved for the full amount.
New Business
President Woods stated that Provost Jamila Bookwala will attend the next Senate meeting on Feb. 17, to answer student questions. Woods said that Director of Residential Education Danielle Phillips will be at the following meeting on Feb. 24 to brief the Senate about the construction projects on campus. The March 3 meeting will feature representatives from the Honor Commission to discuss new changes to the Honor Code.
One senator stated that while the new practice of sharing each meeting’s agenda and minutes with the student body over email is good, these documents lack context for students to understand Senate procedures and the discussion behind its decisions. He then suggested that an expanded summary of the meeting be shared instead.
Another senator then mentioned that The Gettysburgian sends a reporter to write about each meeting, making the proposed summary redundant and unnecessary. Others concurred, stating that Gettysburgian Senate articles provide the necessary context for students.
The discussion about the context of Senate decisions was brought into a larger conversation about the disapproval of many students regarding the recent decision to fund a campus swingset using the $10,000 “Senate Shark Tank” lockbox after the idea was pitched at the previous meeting.
Some argued that had students sought the proper context behind the decision and the arguments concerning it, they would better understand and appreciate the decision.
Others suggested that regardless of what information is available, many students will still form strong opinions about Senate decisions without seeking contextual information.
One senator stated that criticism toward the Senate is inevitable, and that the vocal disapproval of some is not indicative of the thoughts or the greater student body. He also said he has personally been confronted a number of times about different Senate issues, and that there is a place for boundaries between what is said during meetings and what is expressed afterward.
To this, another senator argued that greater student opinion is important, and that there ought to be a campus-wide opinion survey about the usage of the $10,000 from the “shark tank” activity.
Parliamentarian DeMarco responded to this suggestion, stating that per the Senate’s constitution, a swing set has already been voted upon, though a survey could be used for future ideas.
One senator then said that the Senate ought to actively increase its outreach projects instead, arguing that people often do not respond well to polls, which can be difficult to effectively advertise.
At this point, DeMarco clarified that while the Senate cannot make a motion to reconsider allotted funds, it could make a new motion to reopen debate regarding the swingset project.
The Opinions Committee, which proposed the swingset, and is tasked with planning its implementation, argued that it was the best of the “shark tank” proposals because it would not require regular maintenance in the future, as was argued when it was decided.
President Woods then commented that as the former chair of the Opinions Committee, he was able to accomplish projects by inviting staff and administrators to Senate meetings to contribute to practical discussions. He said that the same option is available to the current committee.
One senator then argued that despite negative comments about the swingset from the student body, it has made few senators regret their decision to fund the project, and that if the debate over the issue persists, the Senate will not have time to implement any project for the campus.
Another senator said that she regretted her vote to approve the swingset after having heard from students who would prefer security cameras to swingsets to increase campus security.
In response to this, certain senators argued that cameras would be the College’s responsibility to provide, and ought not be funded by the Senate budget.
Safety and Wellness Committee Chair Reese Koch ’25 stated that there is already extensive camera surveillance across campus. She then made a motion to reconsider the Senate’s swingset project.
After the voice vote was too close to call, the Senate proceeded with a “recorded vote,” in which each member voted individually.
The motion to reconsider the swingset failed because it was unable to attain the ⅔ majority that would be required to vote on something that has already been passed.
When asked about why they voted to cancel the motion to reconsider, several senators argued that due to low maintenance of the swingset, its availability to all students, a strong belief that it will be regularly used, and the limited time that the Senate would have postponed the use of the money for greater debate.
One senator also argued that the swingset will cost the entire $10,000, as facilities have agreed to cover installation, leaving residual funds for use toward future projects. She also said that it would not be a good practice to reverse a decision because of arbitrary criticism.
Another senator suggested that the floor ought to suspend debate on the issue until it receives an update from the Opinions Committee at the next meeting concerning concrete price figures for the project.
With that suggestion, the floor voted to adjourn.
