On Sunday night, the Senate convened for its weekly meeting to continue the process of chartering clubs, discussing allocations of the Student Union budget and compiling Committee Chair reports on upcoming initiatives.

Student Union President Sneha Walia ’15 began by discussing the first round of Student Union elections for the upcoming academic year, which will take place online for 24 hours beginning on Thursday. She also discussed several upcoming events, including ’Deis Day on Apr. 19, an upcoming meeting with President Lawrence and a forum on Mar. 19 in which the student body can discuss what they want to see in the next University president.

The Senate continued its process of chartering clubs by voting on two clubs for charter—improvisation group Crowd Control and the group Women, Inc., an on-campus women’s leadership club.

Crowd Control is already recognized as a club but requested chartering in order to have a fund to book performance spaces and hire outside professionals for workshops.

The club was not approved for chartering with a vote of five in favor, four abstains and 10 against. Those who voted against the chartering cited concerns of group exclusivity and the ways in which the money will be allocated.

The Senate rules state that they can not charter groups that can exclude members, as most performance groups do through the process of auditions. Women, Inc. was chartered with a vote of 22 in favor, zero abstains and zero against.

After discussing student and administrative communications, the Senate discussed a Senate Money Resolution, or SMR, for the upcoming Midnight Buffet, an event hosted at the end of each semester to celebrate the end of classes. The SMR passed with a vote of 20 in favor, zero abstains and zero against.

Next, the Senate heard brief reports and updates from Committee Chair leaders on future initiatives and the progress of current initiatives.

Sustainability Committee Chair Anna Bessendorf ’15 discussed the idea of compiling a guide for sustainability on campus, as well as upcoming Earth Week programming.

The Services and Outreach Committee discussed their outreach on various social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as the updated website.

The Social Justice and Diversity Committee discussed their upcoming Poetry Slam which will take place on Mar. 19 and the advertising that has gone into the event.

The Senate meeting concluded with reports from individual Senators. Senator-at-Large Brian Hough ’17 brought up several initiatives to improve student life on campus. These included better resources for students at the health center, including increased availability of information, and concerns about the safety of students. Hough suggested adding more blue-light systems on campus and increasing lighting at night to ensure student safety.

North Quad Senator Lorenzo Finamore ’18 addressed the success of the underclassman formal, which 225 students attended.

Class of 2018 Senator Skye Golann concluded the senator reports by discussing an initiative to reduce prices at the Hoot Market on campus, citing that the average price of an item in the Hoot Market is 70 percent higher than that of an equivalent item in Hannaford grocery store.

The Senate meeting concluded with an open forum and executive session.