On Sunday, the Senate held its first meeting with newly elected senators from last Thursday’s election.  

In new business, the Senate unanimously approved the appointment of Amber Abernathy ’18 as Student Union diversity officer. She will be responsible for working with the University’s Social Justice and Diversity Committees.

Student Union Vice President Hannah Brown ’19 shared an announcement from the Office of Prevention Services that the mandatory bystander program for all club leaders is indefinitely on hiatus. 

Not only does the program need review, but the Office of Prevention services finds itself too understaffed to provide the program to all club leaders, Brown said. All Student Union members, however, will receive the training. 

In the unfinished business segment, the Senate voted to postpone the establishment of the proposed “community senator” position mentioned last meeting, as members of the student body have decided to run for the unoccupied quad seats in the next election. 

Brown also announced Senate committee chair appointments made with advice from the Student Union Executive Board. 

The appointments included East Quad Senator Samantha Barrett ’20 to Health and Safety, Class of 2020 Senator Jonathan Chen to Dining, Class of 2020 Senator Tal Richtman to Club Support, Class of 2019 Benedikt Reynolds to Sustainability, Executive Senator Aaron Finkel ’20 to Services and Outreach, Senator-at-Large Shaquan McDowell ’18 to the Campus Operations Working Group, Class of 2018 Senator Abhishek Kulkarni to Bylaws and Rosenthal Quad Senator Lizy Dabanka ’20 to Social Justice and Diversity. 

For the appointment of Senate Representative to the Allocations Board, the Senate voted between International Student Senator Linfei Yang ’20 and Class of 2019 Senator Vidit Dhawan. In a secret ballot, Dhawan was appointed. 

Richtman and Class of 2018 Matthew Kowalyk both volunteered and were unanimously approved as Senate representatives to the Community Emergency and Enhancement Fund. 

The Senate discussed an amendment to the bylaws accrediting clubs, which was proposed last meeting by Kulkarni and Richtman. After review, the bylaws were approved in an unanimous vote. 

The amendments address issues of redundancy and lack of club support in the previous club chartering process. Significant changes include a “probationary period” lasting 14 weeks, during which new club leaders must work directly with the Club Support Committee on concrete goals before official establishment as a club on campus. Additionally, the 150 signatures required for club recognition have been eliminated and replaced with 15 written statements by club members. The two-semester plan has been replaced with a more in-depth, one-semester plan that calls for quantifiable and actionable goals. 

Senators agreed these changes will help the sustainability of new clubs. Brown noted that the Senate has “always wrestled with this” and that the bylaws may be changed in the future if the new proposals don’t work. 


—Michelle Dang