On Sunday night, the Senate convened for its weekly meeting to discuss the chartering of clubs and the allocation of Senate funds.

The meeting began with a swearing in of the newest member of the Senate, Midyear Senator Emil Koenig ’18, and executive officer reports from Student Union President Sneha Walia ’15 and Flora Wang ’15, who mentioned updates to the Student Union website, an upcoming dean’s breakfast and a Student Union roundtable to be held in late February.

A petition from the Science Club for Girls to change their name to BeWISE was tabled until the next meeting, as none of the club members were able to attend that night. Two representatives from the University’s co-ed volleyball club came up to speak about getting their club chartered. The students said that while their club has been officially recognized for six years, it has also seen a large increase in members and needs a way to obtain more volleyballs. All senate members voted in favor of the charter.

The last club that came up to speak was the French “Art de Vivre” Society club, who asked that the Senate officially recognize their club. Five students came up to discuss the purpose of their club, which is to promote cultural awareness of France and French culture. Senate members debated the idea of recognizing this club, with many members citing concerns that it is not different enough from the French language club already in existence. The Senate voted against recognizing the club, but senators stated that with more explicit description of the club’s purpose and changes to its constitution, it could be formally recognized in the future.

The Senate moved into discussions on the budget—specifically Senate Money Resolutions, or SMRs, that decide how the Senate will allocate the remainder of their $22,000 annual budget. There were four officially proposed SMRs and several more unofficial proposals. Mods Senator Kira Setren ’15 proposed the first SMR, which was a $2,400 proposal to hold a spring barbeque in the Foster Mods. The four first-year senators proposed their SMR to fund a first-year masquerade in March that would need $225 of funding from the Senate, as well as additional funding from A-Board. Sustainability Committee Chair Anna Bessendorf ’15 requested $300 of funding for a State of Sustainability conference planned for February, and an SMR of $180 was requested for a Social Justice poetry slam to be held in late March on campus. Unofficial requests included funding for the Midnight Buffet, which cost $7,000 last semester, funding for a social justice #BlackLivesMatter march to be held in late February, and several smaller class or quad bonding events. The proposals totaled about $10,755 of funding.


The poetry slam proposal and sustainability proposal both passed with all-in-favor votes, and the masquerade proposal passed with a vote of 13 in favor and one abstained. The Mods barbeque proposal did not pass, with nine senators in favor and five abstaining.

The Senate closed the meeting with brief reports from Committee Chair leaders. Dining Committee Chair Ben Margolin ’17 discussed an upcoming dining survey, Sustainability Committee Chair Anna Bessendorf ’15 discussed the State of Sustainability scheduled for Feb. 26 and an Eco-Week scheduled for Feb. 23, and Club Support Committee Chair David Herbstritt ’17discussed the first monthly club forum.

Herbstritt was also voted up to be the executive senator.