On Sunday, the Senate convened for its weekly meeting to discuss the proposed students’ rights committee and the upcoming vote on a new constitutional amendment regarding the Allocations Board.

After voting to recognize the Brandeis Billiards Club, Student Union Chief of Staff Justin Carlisle ’13 discussed the press conference held by Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 on Friday to address student concerns over the Allocations Board process. Additionally, he briefly noted that the Senate Judicial Committee is currently doing a constitutional review to clarify ambiguous language in the constitution.

Student Union Vice President Dennis Hermida-Gonzalez ’17 then discussed ongoing efforts to get all club members to undergo bystander training for sexual assault scenarios. He mentioned that he has been working with Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon, and that his hope would be for training to be completed by the end of the fall semester. He also discussed his efforts to come up with a sensitivity training plan with Assistant Dean and Director for the Intercultural Center Monique Pillow Gnanaratnam.

The Senate then moved into committee chair reports, which included Racial Minority Senator Bethlehem Seifu Belaineh ’16 and Senator at Large Lucy Wen’s ’18 efforts to bring students’ preferred pronouns into the classrooms and administrative documents. Senator at Large Lorenzo Finamore ’18 also addressed the possibility of rewriting the guide for club accreditation and the revoking of recognition and charter for clubs that have not submitted the proper documents on hazing, of which Finamore said there will likely be 30. The Senate also discussed the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Shuttle, for which tickets are currently being sold.

Next, the Senate voted to limit discussion on motions to two speeches per senator per motion, for a total of 15 minutes of discussion per motion for the entire Senate.

Village Quad Senator Abhishek Kulkarni ’18 then spoke about his proposed bylaw, which would create a Senate committee for students’ rights. The Senate debated whether the committee was necessary, given that avenues such as the Student Conduct Board currently exist for similar purposes. The Senate voted not to approve the proposal, with one vote in favor and the rest opposed.

Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 then gave a presentation on the A-Board task force, which discussed issues with the funding process for clubs and the makeup of the Board itself. According to Herbstritt, the solution that the task force came up with would increase the A-Board from five members to nine, and three of those members would have three semester terms and would take office in a series of staggered elections, so as to ensure that there would always be at least one person with knowledge of the allocations process on the Board. Additionally, the A-Board chair would have a one semester term, but with no term limits, and two A-Board clerks would help ensure that funding decisions will come out faster. The amendment, he noted, would deal with Articles Five and Nine of the constitution and would require a two-thirds majority vote of all voting students to pass.

Next, Herbstritt discussed proposed changes to the A-Board bylaws, requiring that all members be present to discuss important business, as well as allowing the Board to break into smaller groups for discussion.

Wen then presented her Senate Monetary Request for internal funding for the preferred pronouns and name survey, which she said would put students’ preferred names and pronouns on their identification cards and on Latte and Sage. She said the survey will likely go out sometime before Thanksgiving break.

—Abby Patkin