On Sunday evening, the Senate recognized and chartered a new club and began discussing a new Senate committee designed to deal with the rights of students.

The meeting began with two representatives for Girl Up, a club seeking recognition and chartering, who explained that the club would serve as the Brandeis chapter of a international organization created by the United Nations that is focused on uniting youth to empower women across the world. Some senators questioned the representatives on the differences between Girl Up and other clubs on campus, including the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. The representatives claimed that while the two have similar goals, FMLA is both more politically oriented and domestically focused than Girl Up would be. After a private debate about the nature of club recognition in general, the Senate unanimously voted to recognize the club.

The representatives then asked for chartering, and senators questioned why the club needed University funding if its stated goal was to fundraise for an outside organization. Following a lengthy debate discussing the merits of using Allocations Board funding for on-campus events and private fundraising for donations, the Senate voted to charter the club with 13 senators voting in favor of the motion, four opposing and two abstaining from the vote.

Student Representative to the Board of Trustees Grady Ward ’16 then offered a report concerning the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting. Ward said that the student representatives to the Board of Trustees would bring up the issue of accessibility of a college education for all students, regardless of wealth. He reported that the survey sent to the student body in early October had 769 responses and prompted a number of meetings with the administration, financial aid office and individual students. Ward said he had hoped to have had the report ready by the Senate meeting but was unable to and reported that it would be released in full to the student body by Tuesday night. Ward also said that the trustees have begun an initiative to better get to know students by introducing a book club, student lunches with trustees and a calendar of student events for trustees. Ward said all three initiatives are open to the entire student body, and encouraged anyone with interest to contact him.

Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 then gave an Executive Board update, reporting that she worked with the Judiciary Constitutional Review Force to comb through confusing language in the Student Union Constitution and hopes to present clarifications for review to the student body by Oct. 31.

The meeting then moved into reports from committee chairs, with Class of 2018 Senator Paul Sindberg ’18 reporting Turkey Shuttles have been reserved and finalized and the Student Union is now in the process of coordinating advertising. The Senate then heard from four candidates who wished to run for the Community Enhancement and Emergency Fund, and Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 instructed senators to vote by emailing Macklin no later than midnight on Sunday.

Village Quad Senator Abhishek Kulkarni ’18 then introduced a discussion of a new committee focused on the protection of student rights that have been violated. The prolonged discussion, which nearly required a vote on going into an executive session, centered on the differences between the proposed committee and the Student Conduct Board. Kulkarni claimed the latter was for adjudication and not for advocating on behalf of students. Herbstritt recommended continuing the discussion throughout the week and at the next Senate meeting. The meeting concluded with individual reports on personal initiatives taken by senators over the course of last week.

—Avi Gold