By Gillian Petrarca ’23
Staff Writer
Following a land acknowledgment by Shula Matthews ’22, the March 1 senate meeting began. The meeting agenda for the night included E-Board updates, open floor announcements and a Town Hall with AccessAbility Services.
The week’s E-Board updates came from Sophia Jung ’22, who encouraged senators to send out a dining ideas form so that students can submit recipes they would like to see from Dining Services. Jung encouraged students to submit family or cultural recipes. EJ Jankovic ’23, chair of halls, added that this is a great opportunity for students to see the foods that they want on campus.
The Senate then opened the floor for announcements from senators. The Jewish Student Union is hosting the annual Latke-Hamantaschen Debate on March 9. The Pre-Health Association reminded students that they are hosting a documentary series every Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Porter Hall common room. The Dressage team has a home show on March 6.
Next, senators had the opportunity to voice concerns from their constituents. Lumeng Yang ’24, the senator from Abbey Hall, voiced that one of her constituents recently became sick with COVID-19 and had a hard time making it to isolation housing alone and was wondering if there is any support for this type of situation. President of SGA Lasya Priya Rao Jarugumilli ’23 responded by noting that Public Safety and Service have the ability to help transport students by vehicle to isolation housing. Ham Hall senator Gus Karpatkin ’23 brought up how there is only filtered water on the second floor of Ham. Vice President of SGA Ananya Singh ’22 stated that this is due to the College policy of having at least one filtered water station in every Residence Hall.
Before transitioning into the Town Hall with AccessAbility Services, Jankovic reminded senators of the Accessibility Barriers online report form. Jankovic explained that this form can be used to report barriers, such as snow, that can affect accessibility.
The Town Hall was joined by Senior Accommodation Coordinator Aaron Ferguson, Accommodation Coordinator Zemora Tevah and Accessibility Coordinator C. Ross. Questions were submitted beforehand and were answered in short and long answer responses.
The first short answer question was, “Is there a way for accommodations to be granted without having access to a professional signing off on it?” Ferguson responded that while this is an ideal that they would like to work towards, it is not possible right now. According to Ferguson, the American with Disabilities Act requires that a clinical professional certify that a person has a disability. However, Ferguson mentioned that AccessAbility can grant short-term accommodations for students while they wait to get this paperwork turned in.
Another submitted question asked if OneCard readers could have brighter tones and/or brighter lights. Ross responded by again stating that if students have an AccessAbility issue, they can fill out the Access to Barriers Report Form. This form can be anonymous and is monitored by the Title IX Coordinator, Shannon DaSilva.
The long answer questions ranged from AccessAbility’s outreach process to how they deal with professors not respecting students’ accommodations.
When asked if they have considered changing the name of AccessAbility Services, Tevah responded by stating that they would like to change the name and would love to hear ideas from students about different names.
Regarding the question of how to handle professors not respecting students’ accommodations, Ferguson answered that AccessAbility will not get involved unless a student asks them to do so. He explained that in the past he has mediated such conflicts, and when a concern about a professor is brought forth it has usually been resolved.
The Town Hall concluded with many thanks from AccessAbility Services, who welcomed everyone to come to the AAS Fellows Info & Game Time on Friday, Apr. 8 from 3:30 - 5 p.m. in the Great Room.