The Senate convened for its weekly meeting on Sunday to recognize a new club and vote on a new bylaw amendment regarding Allocations Board marathon funding sessions.

After conducting a roll call, the Senate heard a presentation from Emma Kahn ’17 and Juan Ramirez ’17, who were seeking to get their UNICEF club officially recognized by the union. In deliberating the club’s request for recognition, several senators raised concerns about UNICEF’s goals overlapping with other clubs that are already represented on campus, as no two clubs with the same mission are allowed to exist simultaneously. Ultimately, the motion to recognize the UNICEF club passed with 12 in favor, four opposed and two abstentions.

The Senate then moved into Executive Officer Reports. Union Secretary Shuying Liu ’16 discussed upcoming e-board elections and weekly emails, while Student Union Vice President David Herbstritt ’17 discussed the need to increase outreach for the Union, especially during orientation, and mentioned that the Department of Community Living will be sending out an email this week regarding their proposed housing lottery changes, which did not pass.

The Senate moved into committee chair reports. Head of the Senate Sustainability Committee and Class of 2017 Senator Matt Smetana discussed the successful annual State of Sustainability held last Tuesday, while chair of the Dining Services Committee and North Quad Senator Hannah Brown ’19 discussed upcoming dining events, the creation of a new logo for the committee and ideas about a new app with information about dining on campus. It was also mentioned that renovations will be made to East Quad this summer, with both buildings getting new roofs and Pomerantz Hall getting new windows.

The Senate then unanimously voted to pass the marathon amendment to the bylaws that was discussed at last week’s meeting, with the argument that it will help A-Board be more organized and fair in their allocations of funding. The amendment will reduce the number of funding marathons to 2 per year — one each semester.

The meeting closed with senator reports. Class of 2019 Senator Nathan Greess mentioned that he and Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 have discussed creating a student-led information session about resources on campus that are underutilized — such as the Rape Crisis Center and the Psychological Counseling Center — to further inform students about available resources. The Class of 2016 senators also mentioned that they are beginning discussions with the University regarding a commencement speaker.

—Rachel Sharer