Photo by Ella Shelton '26. Maahi Jaiswal '24 speaks at the April 11 senate meeting with 2023-2024 SGA E-Board candidates.
By Paige Comeau ’26
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, April 11, Senate began with a reading of the land acknowledgment and the agenda. It included E-Board updates, All Campus Elections ratification, updated guidelines from the Ways and Means Committee, speeches for Senate elections, town hall debriefs and open floor. Chair of Senate EJ Jankovic ’23 announced the E-Board updates, which began by stating that the next two town halls would take place on April 18 and April 25 and would feature representatives from LITS and Dining Services. April 25 will also be the last senate meeting of the year. Jankovic also asked that the senators fill out the Princeton Review Survey, which would be emailed to them shortly. They also reminded students of Tiny Business Tuesday, which will take place on April 25, on Skinner Green from 11:30-1:30.
Next, the ACE Committee presented the recent election results. Candidate forms opened on March 6 and closed on March 26, while voting opened on April 3 and closed on April 9. Although voting was publicized through various methods during the voting period, ACE did not meet the quorum, which is the number of votes needed to ratify the candidates. ACE quorum is 50 percent of the eligible voters plus one, but campus-wide only about 10 percent of the student body voted. Due to this, the ACE committee needed the Senate to ratify the vote. Via a Google form, senators were encouraged to vote one of three ways: yes, which meant that the senators believed the ACE committee completed due diligence and attempted to get a quorum, and therefore the results should be ratified; no, which would enable voting to be opened for one more week in an attempt to get quorum; and a third option, which would allow the senators to abstain from voting. After a few minutes, with a two-thirds majority, the senators voted to ratify the 2023/2024 ACE results.
The Senate then discussed new funding guidelines from the SGA Ways and Means Committee, which must be ratified by the Senate to pass. The new guidelines are as follows: a $2,000 cap on speakers and performers per student organization per semester, a $1,500 cap on first aid training per student org per semester, a $300 cap on round-trip air travel per student, a $135 cap on hotel rooms per four students and a $25 cap per student for off-campus food for events. Senate voted on whether or not to ratify these items, the results of which will be announced within the next few weeks.
Following the Ways and Means update, the Senate heard speeches from students running for Senate E-Board positions, which include Chair of Senate, Chair of Special Interests and Chair of Halls. Two people are running for Chair of the Senate: Julia Keane ’25 and Julia Madonick ’24. Julia Keane’s speech mainly highlighted their experience as a senator and E-Board member, as well as their goals for next year, which are to encourage participation from students and ensure transparency between the senate, the E-board and faculty departments. Julia Madonick highlighted their experience as a member of the 2024 class board and expressed their excitement to enter a new role. They stated that they want to focus on efficiency, cooperation and inclusion within the Senate. One person is running for chair of special interests: Lillian Wade ’26. As a current first year, Wade underscored their experiences as the Senate’s archivist this year. As the chair of special interests, they hope to ensure every voice from every organization is heard. There are three candidates for the Chair of Halls: Nathania Amadi ’26, Rida Ilahi ’26 and Serynn Nowlin ’25, the incumbent. Amadi focused her speech on her leadership ability as an international, low-income student who understands the lack of representation with Residential Life and hopes to work towards positive change on campus. Ilahi, like Amadi, is a current hall senator. Illahi believes that as an international student, they understand the unique perspective of those living far away from their homes. As chair of halls they want to focus on fostering a community where every person is heard and listened to, especially by ensuring that every hall has a senator. Nowlin is the current chair of halls, which they believe gives them the experience necessary to continue the job. They hope to continue to work effectively with the Senate, the E-Board and ResLife to ensure an adequate living environment for every student. After the speeches, Senators voted on the positions, the winners of which will be announced at the next Senate meeting on April 18.
After a few minutes of voting, the Senate moved on to debrief the last two Town Halls, which featured ResLife and Student Financial Services. One member stated that the ResLife town hall made them feel as though they were being given excuses rather than being listened to. Jankovic, the chair of the senate, agreed that it could be seen that way. When asked about the tax workshop hosted by SFS, the senators generally felt positive.
The Senate then began open floor, a portion of the meeting where senators and representatives are invited to share their thoughts and opinions on various issues. The representative for the Mixed Identity Student Collective announced that they would be holding open hours at the Unity Center on Friday, April 14, from 2-4. The representative for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee stated that as this week was DⅢ week there are tons of events and games going on. She advised students to check Instagram or Kendall Sports and Dance Complex to find event times. The International Student Organizing Community announced the upcoming Korea Night event.
The senator for MacGregor Hall proceeded to bring up a concern that they had seen students around campus feeding and chasing the geese, something the senator fears will provoke conflict as the geese mate and have babies. The E-Board stated they will work on creating more awareness of “geese etiquette” around campus, possibly through signs or social media posts. The representative for the MHC Democrats raised a question about the parking at Gorse Children’s Center, which has many sizable pot-holes. The E-Board agreed that the parking lot was an issue and promised to bring it up to the administration. Another member asked about a recent Student Life announcement postponing the use of the firepit for the foreseeable future. A member of Student Life, present at the meeting, responded, saying that as there is currently a red flag warning across Massachusetts — a weather alert that signifies an increased probability of fire — and that the local fire department asked the school not to use it. The Senate closed with a few reminders from the SGA E-Board. They reminded students that the coming week would be More Than An Ally Week, hosted by MoZone Peer Educators, that the Drag Ball is coming up this weekend and that the Senior Ball is the following Saturday, April 22.