Photo by Tzav Harrel ‘24
EJ Jankovic ‘23 (left) and Sophia Jung ‘22 (right) present the weekly E-Board updates at senate.
By Gillian Petrarca ’23
Staff Writer
After a land acknowledgment by Chair of Halls EJ Jankovic ’23, the Feb. 15 senate meeting began. The meeting agenda for the night included E-Board updates, open floor announcements and Town Hall etiquette.
The week’s one E-Board update came from Jankovic, who told senators of their recent meeting with Dr. Cheryl Flynn, the medical director of Health Services. The two discussed the COVID-19 booster shot clinic, which will take place at the Testing Center on Feb. 19 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Jankovic also reminded students to upload their vaccine cards to the My.MountHolyoke website even if they have not received their booster shot yet.
Jankovic concluded their updates by announcing that they are creating an unofficial student handbook for first-year students. Jankovic asked senators to send them any advice that students wish they would have known before coming to Mount Holyoke.
Senate then opened the floor for announcements from senators. The senator from the Animal Welfare Organization, Sonia Ramanathan ’25, informed the room that there is an injured duck on campus and asked that students not approach it. The senator from the class of 2023, Emma Legacki ’23 announced that the annual Junior Show, or J-Show, a sketch production put on by the junior class, is still in need of directors. The English Handbell ensemble will have their first meeting of the year on Feb. 20 from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in Pratt Music Hall.
Next, senators had the opportunity to voice concerns from their constituents. The Pearsons Annex senator, Piper Hattenbach ’23, said that one of their constituents raised the concern that the Golden Pear in the dorm is not wheelchair accessible and that the whole campus is generally inaccessible. The Ham Hall senator, Gus Karpatkin ’23, also raised an accessibility concern about the trash cans in Ham. They also suggested that the street lights on campus be turned off once a month in order for the College to be more energy efficient. Lastly, the North Creighton senator, Autumn Larsen ’24, brought up the small design [of street signs] and lack of speed limit signs around campus.
President of SGA Lasya Priya Rao Jarugumilli ’23 and Vice President of SGA Ananya Singh ’22 went over etiquette for the upcoming March 1 Town Hall meeting with AccessAbility Services. Jarugumilli told senators that mutual respect during these meetings is very important and stated that how senators carry themselves during Town Hall meetings can potentially impact how the visiting department interacts with senate in the future. Singh spoke about the importance of calling in, rather than calling out, if a conflict arises.
The meeting concluded with senators joining their commissions to submit questions for the upcoming town hall meeting.