On Sunday, the Senate met to recognize a new student club — Common Ground — and discuss a new amendment to its bylaws about committee meeting attendance.

The Senate first heard from a student representative from Common Ground, a Muslim-Jewish student dialogue group that sought recognition on Sunday night. The student said that the group would be unique in its focus on culture and history rather than on politics. In a discussion on whether or not to grant recognition, Village Quad Senator Abhishek Kulkarni ’18 raised the concern that the group overlaps with functions that currently existing religious and cultural clubs already have. Executive Senator Paul Sindberg ’18 disagreed, stating that the potential positive impact of the club outweighs any fear of overlap. Ultimately, the Senate voted to recognize Common Ground.

Student Union Vice President David Herbstritt ’17 then announced that he had misread the Senate bylaws, and thus his planned reappointment of committee chairs would not take place, with the exception of North Quad Senator Hannah Brown ’19, who has become the chair of the Dining Services Committee.

The Senate then moved into executive reports. Herbstritt stated that former Rosenthal Quad Senator Will Jones ’18 will now be Student Union President Nyah Macklin’s ’16 chief of staff, replacing Justin Carlisle ’13. Committee chairs then gave reports on their committees, the highlights of which included the Services and Outreach Committee’s ongoing attempts to publish bios of each of its members on its Facebook page and the Dining Services Committee’s efforts to create a version of the Hoot Market for the Village.

Macklin then arrived at the meeting to deliver a brief executive officer report, announcing that the Union would be having a meeting on Wednesday night for candidates interested in running for the open Rosenthal Quad Senate seat and the open Student Union Judiciary seat.

In the unfinished business portion of the night, the Senators discussed the Services and Outreach Committee’s Senate Money Request for “Brandeis Bands Together,” an event that would allow the Senate to partner with clubs to sell wristbands for charitable causes. Due to issues involving the constitutionality of the request — there were concerns that Student Union funds would be used to generate funds that would go to an individual club — the Senate voted to postpone the request “indefinitely.”

The Senate then moved on to new business, discussing an amendment that would alter the Senate’s bylaws for committee meetings. Senator At Large Lucy Wen ’18 introduced the amendment, discussing the negative impact senator absences have on the productivity of the committees. She asked that the Senate bylaws be amended to allow three absences from committee meetings as opposed to five. The senators expressed some concerns that senators with legitimate time conflicts that prevented them from attending meetings would be unjustly penalized. Others agreed that there needed to be greater accountability for senators to attend committee meetings but were unsure that the amendment was the right way to fix that. Further discussion will take place next week. The Senate then briefly discussed a money request for an event that will occur later this month. The request will be voted on next week, as is customary with SMRs.

After brief individual senator reports, two students presented on “fun bucks.” The students wish to change the name of dining points to fun bucks. According to the students, they have already gained the support of over 25 student clubs and wish to start a petition for student signatures. “Brandeis fun bucks today, Brandeis fun bucks tomorrow, Brandeis fun bucks forever,” they concluded their presentation.

—Abby Patkin