The Student Union Senate may soon release anonymous surveys to the student body about their club experiences so that students can share candid information about how to improve club experiences, Class of 2018 Senator Abhishek Kulkarni explained at Sunday’s Senate meeting.

“Our primary interaction with clubs is through the leaders. … We have no way of reaching out to the members to see, A: are the club leaders being honest? B: is this club actually valuable to the people who are not running it?” Kulkarni explained. In an interview with the Justice, Kulkarni clarified that the survey is already written and will likely be distributed in the next few weeks.

The Senate voted to recognize the eSports club at the start of the meeting. Club members explained that the eSports Club differs from the current Console Gamers X club because it has a more competitive and sports-oriented focus, while Console Gamers X focuses on casual and non-competitive video gaming. The eSports club hopes to provide intramural tournaments in games like Overwatch and League of Legends, as well as compete against similar teams and clubs at other colleges.

Class of 2017 Senator Ryan Tracy explained that the long-term goal for the club is to establish an umbrella framework for different eSports similar to the current club sports framework, with individual teams and groups for different games. Senators expressed a desire for Console Gamers X and the eSports team to share equipment when possible to reduce costs.

Senators also voted to recognize the Breakdance Club’s change in name to the Stop Motion Dance Crew. Though the club had been going by the new name since last fall, they had not formally cleared the name change with the Senate.

Student Union Vice President Paul Sindberg ’18 informed Senators that their presence is mandatory at an intra-union meeting on Wednesday night. University President Ron Liebowitz will be attending, as will representatives from all the branches of the Student Union. In his executive officer report, Sindberg said that the E-board has been examining space allocations across campus as well as current Allocations Board policies and the “social impact of programming.”

Executive Senator Hannah Brown ’19 expressed concern that the Union has been “stagnant,” in recent months and wants to mobilize the Union toward combatting “the really negative attitude on campus.” She is finalizing the annual Turkey shuttles, which are buses to New York and New Jersey over Thanksgiving weekend. The Senators later voted to approve funding for the shuttles.

Sinberg said that Student Union Director of Academic Involvement Jacob Edelman ’18 is working on an ad hoc transparency committee, which may publicly release the minutes from senate and E-board meetings.

In Committee reports, the Social Justice Committee expressed concern at the small number of members and attendees. Several senators volunteered to attend more meetings and support the committee.

The Senators also elected Class of 2019 Senator Kate Kesselman to serve as the new Senate representative to the Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund. Kesselman noted her experience as a prior A-Board representative and said that she knows of some CEEF requests that were never even reviewed last year. She wants to prevent similar situations from occurring this year. Massell Quad Senator Aaron Finkel ’20 chose not to run against Kesselman after hearing her pitch.

Senators expressed a range of concerns from constituents in their reports, including mouse sightings in Sheffries Hall and moldy fruit and sandwiches in the Hoot Market. Senator at Large Shaquan McDowell ’18 said he’s spoken to constituents about ongoing debate over providing menstrual products at reduced prices around campus.

He asked about Senate communication lines with the new community council system established by the Department of Community Living. Sindberg replied that he’s been “in constant communication” with DCL, and that quad senators may serve as liaisons to the hall governments. However, since so few students have expressed interest in the community councils, there haven’t been any actual meetings yet.

—Max Moran