The Senate convened for its weekly meeting on Sunday to vote on two new student clubs and to establish a timeframe for clubs to complete anti-hazing forms

After voting to recognize Basement Records, a record label club started by Avi Hershbein ’19, the Senate voted to recognize the German Club. Both clubs were approved for recognition without any abstentions. Student representatives from the German Club expressed that their club was not yet ready to be chartered and that the club leaders would like to get their proposal in order first.

The Senate then moved into executive reports and announcements. Student Union Secretary Shuying Liu ’16 discussed card access to the Student Union room for all members and monitoring the Romper Room printer.

The Senators then discussed with Liu a way to directly communicate with their constituents through Facebook or a Listerv. Senator to the Off Campus Community Sam Krystal ’17 spoke about wanting to tell his constituents when they were granted card access to campus buildings but was unable to do so. Krystal recommended that the Senate create a Senatorial Facebook so that Senators don’t have to use their personal ones. It was then discussed that each senator should have his or her own Listserv so that they can reach constituents directly. Executive Senator David Herbstritt ’17 said that there is currently no motion on the table for Senatorial Facebook or Listserv communication and that it will be a larger discussion in the future. Herbstritt returned to the Senate’s agenda and discussed what the role of the E-board should be in supporting student activists in the #FordHall2015 movement. “I’m thinking as a Union we need to keep doing our jobs, keep representing our constituents. … Continue to be who you are as an individual but be cognizant of our positions,” Herbstritt said.

Next, the Senate moved into committee chair reports, which included Senator at Large Lucy Wen’s ’18 efforts to create and incentivize a campus-wide pronoun survey. Wen said that they are going to purchase merchandise from the bookstore to incentivize students to take the survey. Wen also said that the survey will be released during Thanksgiving break to give people more time to take the survey and provide more time for the Senate to analyze the data.

Senator at Large Lorenzo Finamore ’18 discussed his work toward ensuring that every club leader is bystander-trained. Finamore also said that he, Class of 2018 Senator Skye Golann and Herbstritt spoke with a New York Times reporter this week for a compulsory story on campus dining. North Quad Senator Hannah Brown ’19 spoke about Midnight Buffet and said that Friday was the last day to purchase Thanksgiving Turkey Shuttle tickets. Brown said that the Student Union made $8,890.

The Senate then addressed unfinished business for review. They discussed and voted to establish a 40-day deadline for when club anti-hazing forms are due from the start of the fall semester. The amendment passed with one abstention. The Senate then voted to increase the fund by $30 for the pronoun survey. Wen said that they plan to purchase tumblers, t-shirts and mugs as incentives for the survey. The motion passed.

The Senate closed with remarks by Herbstritt regarding the #FordHall2015 movement. “We’re going to stay neutral on this,” Herbstritt said. He added that it would be “worth [the senators’] while to go” outside the capacity of the Student Union to show support for “constituents who are sleeping on the floor.” The Student Union later released a statement of support for the movement.

—Brianna Majsiak