Kit Moore ’27, pictured above, speaks on the blood drive at Senate 4/16. Photo by Althea Shaw ‘27.
By River Dalley ’27
News Section Editor
Mount Holyoke College’s Student Government Association held its first meeting in two weeks on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Last week, SGA did not hold its weekly senate meeting due to the annual BOOM! Conference. Because of this break, there was much to be addressed at this week’s meeting.
As per usual, the meeting began with the Mount Holyoke College Land Acknowledgement, recognizing and respecting the native land that the College and its students and faculty inhabit. The meeting also highlighted one nation in particular: the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The SGA acknowledged the nation’s business accomplishments, such as success in the maple syrup industry and the founding of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, and explained the symbolism in the nation’s logo and encouraged senators to support Pequot businesses and donate accordingly.
After the land acknowledgement, the E-Board took the stage to discuss upcoming senate elections for next semester, taking place during the week of April 21. Since all three main senate positions, including Chair of Senate, are up for grabs, senators were asked to take a moment and nominate senate members for said positions using a Google Form that was emailed to them.
Next, Manu Ribas ’26 of SGA’s All Campus Elections committee, addressed a concern about a lack of voting across the student body. Ribas explained that although ACE encouraged students to vote for their class boards and E-Boards, the number of votes severely missed ACE’s quorum across all of their elections. As a result, Ribas asked that senators vote to either accept the then-current results and release them on April 17 or extend the election to April 22 in hopes of obtaining more votes. The senators voted to accept the election results, which were released on time on Wednesday, April 17.
After the E-Board concluded its presentation, the senate held an open floor for senators to advertise upcoming events that their clubs and halls are hosting. Organizations that are holding upcoming events include Queer Action Collective, Jewish Student Union, Ballet Club, Outing Club and Mixed Identity Student Collective. All upcoming events and details can be found on Mount Holyoke’s Embark website under the “events” tab or on the organization’s social media.
The senate then moved on to address campus concerns. To start the discussion, SGA President Maille Romulus ’24 addressed anonymous cyberbullying on platforms such as Fizz and Instagram and encouraged senators to not engage in said behavior and instead report the bullying and address potential issues in other ways.
Next, Romulus addressed a lack of student attendance at student-led events. Romulus acknowledged all of the hard work student organizations put into their events and encouraged students to show up to them to foster a sense of community and keep organizations active and nurturing. Other senators, like Ribas, agreed with this notion, especially regarding campus elections.
Various building concerns were also brought up. For starters, many senators proposed the addition of new vending machines and water fountains to various residence halls and buildings, as well as repairing pre-existing ones. Other vending-related topics, such as a central vending machine with various toiletries and essentials, were also proposed. Finally, the senator of 1837 Hall reported “milky-white” water coming out of sinks and water fountains in the basement. While other senators proposed that it may be due to additives, the “eggy-smelling” water was still a concern.
Another hot topic of the night was Mount Holyoke’s age-old Milk and Cookies tradition. Students of Color Committee representative Marielena Savino ’27 proposed non-vegan cookie options in addition to vegan options for the event, as many students are currently unhappy with the strictly vegan options. Other senators agreed with Savino and proposed adding an adequate amount of cookies for each hall, alternative discardment options to reduce food waste and more sustainable serving options to the list of M&Cs-related concerns.
The final major topic of April 16’s senate meeting was Gracious Dinner. Many senators noted concerns about the chaos of the event, with one senator proposing a notice to all students when Gracious Dinner is occurring. Many senators agreed with this proposal, adding that accessibility, overstimulation, reduced care for allergens, a lack of food for athletes after practices and food waste were also major concerns with the event. Some senators said they know people who skip Gracious Dinners due to these issues.
Senators also discussed a need for improved accessibility for club events, accessibility training and tips to improve accessibility in general, a sense of “isolation” on campus, a medium-volume dining room in the Dining Commons, a lack of USEFULL containers and the Global Fest hosted by the International Students Organizing Committee.
After all concerns were discussed, the April 16 senate meeting was adjourned, with senators encouraged to “please participate in [their] community” and fill out the aforementioned nomination form.