Photo by Ali Miezels ’23.
SGA senate hosted discussions regarding student health concerns, upcoming elections and narcan.
By Paige Comeau ’26
Staff Writer
On March 7, Student Government Association senate began with the Mount Holyoke land acknowledgement and a reading of the agenda. Next were E-Board updates. The E-Board informed those present that all of the binders ordered by the SGA had been received and they were currently holding extra office hours for people to be able to pick them up. As for the ongoing discussion of Narcan availability on campus, SGA said that although there was no concrete information available, there is a steady conversation happening between the Five Colleges about Narcan training and availability. Then, hall senators were reminded to distribute the March Newsflush and encouraged to grab a stack on their way out. Following the E-Board updates was open floor.
Open floor began with announcements and updates, where the senators and representatives were invited to publicize any upcoming events or important information. The representative for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee reported that both soccer and field hockey would have open sessions before spring break. The representative for the Folk Music and Dance Society stated that there would be an Early Spring Folk Sing event on Friday, March 10. The Class of 2024’s senator announced that the date of the upcoming J-Show will be March 24. The event will be held in Chapin Auditorium.
A student speaking on behalf of the All Campus Elections Committee affirmed that the period to declare candidacy and campaign ends March 26. Voting will occur between April 3 and 9. The student also reminded everyone of the Student Conference Committee Survey, which they stressed is incredibly important to fill out, as the results are presented to the Board of Trustees and have a significant impact on the school. Another member of the Senate informed the students of a joint SGA-Marks event: a workshop on legal name change, on March 23 in the Great Room from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Open floor then turned to questions and concerns, a part of the meeting where students are asked to voice their opinions on various matters. The first student to speak was the representative for the Neurodiverse Students Association. They voiced two concerns. First, due to accessibility concerns and other complications, they asked if the school could review its snow day policy. By the time 8:30 classes begin, they stated, it is not often safe for the students to move around campus. Second, as a student with Celiac disease, they were particularly concerned about the lack of gluten-free food options during school breaks. The senate said that they were in conversation with administrators about the food availability for students over breaks.
Following the NDSA representative, the senator for the class of 2024 sparked a discussion surrounding student health and safety. The senator for the class of 2024 is concerned about the availability of healthcare for students, especially in the middle of the night. Between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Health Services is operational; after hours, students are directed to an on-call nurse, who is not exclusive to the College and is often very busy. Senate responded by saying that if the nurse was busy while there was a serious issue, students are encouraged to ask their RAs for assistance or perhaps visit an emergency room. This sparked a new question from another student, who asked how students without access to a car could get to and from the ER or an urgent care center. Alicia Erwin, the assistant vice president for student life and strategic operations, explained that Lyon’s Lift, a new after-hours transportation system staffed by students being developed by SGA and administration were jointly working on, would be able to respond to these calls. Although the program is very new and not yet in effect, the idea is that a student would be able to call Public Safety and they would direct the student to whichever Lyon’s Lift driver was on-call.
On this note, a different representative asked about the availability of student EMTs on campus. Several students chimed in, discussing liability and other schools with similar programs. Erwin again stepped in to explain that Mount Holyoke used to have a program where students were trained to help aid medical emergencies, but it was phased out several years ago when students were no longer interested. Students present at the meeting expressed interest in restarting the program.
A final concern was raised by the MacGregor Hall senator about Disability Services. With the current intake officer on leave, the senator wanted to know if there were any plans to expand the Disability Services staff. A senator who works with Disability Services added that they are in the process of hiring a new staff member, but as a senior accommodations coordinator.
Senate then moved on to discuss spring semester town halls. The temporary schedule for future town halls states the following: ResLife on March 21; a taxes workshop on April 4; Library Information and Technology Services on April 18; and Dining Services on April 25. While on the topic of town halls, SGA members made sure to discuss proper town hall etiquette. They underscored the principles of mutual respect and calling in vs. calling out, and stated that town halls are not the time to bring up personal anecdotes. Senators pointed out that senate is an open meeting, completely available to the public. Each of the senators and representatives were then directed to check their email for a form where they could submit questions for the Town Hall. After being given a few minutes to answer questions, students were asked to work on their commissions until an E-Board member came around to let them know who to send their finished petitions to.