The Senate convened on Sunday night to discuss numerous topics, including bystander training and club support. However, one common theme was represented throughout the evening: that the University was founded to hear all people’s views, and that all views must be respected.

The Senate chartered two clubs during Sunday’s meeting. The first club was Brandeis Peace Action, a club that utilizes students’ voices to promote peace around the world. The club will be a chapter of Peace Action — a national organization developed to encourage peaceful foreign policy.

The organization’s goal is to educate people on current events in order to support peace. In addition, the club aims to empower students and youth to take action in their community to make the world safer, as well as to connect students to the larger community of activists who also want to make the world more peaceful through conflict resolution. Participants will meet to organize events, educate their peers and create projects on peace and the costs of war.

While the club representatives said that the Peace Action organization is pro-Palestine, they explained the Brandeis chapter will not necessarily remain concurrent with this perspective, according to the student representatives.

While the national organization’s support for Palestine caused some senators to express concern about chartering the club, they were reminded, by Student Union Vice President Paul Sindburg ’18, that all students have a voice on this campus and should be free to express those views. The Senate voted to charter the club.

The second club chartered was Deis Robotics, a club that invites community members, regardless of level of experience in robotics, to build functional machines, learn computer science fundamentals and participate in competitions, according to student representatives.

The students added that they would like to work with the Brandeis Prosthesis Club, Deis3D, the Brandeis Initiative for Tech, Machines, Apps and Programming and the Brandeis Architecture Club. Although the Senate questioned how this club would be different from the aforementioned clubs, the senators concluded that Deis Robotics serves to provide a more hands-on model of machinery, agreeing that science-based clubs serve an important role on campus.

Executive Senator Hannah Brown ’19 told the senators that Student Union-wide bystander training has been making progress, with signup sheets for later training sessions available later in the week.

In executive officer reports, Brown reiterated that the E-Board is working toward creating a safe space for all clubs and individuals on campus to express their views, emphasizing that such an outlet is crucial.

Discussion topics from individual senator reports included extending BranVan hours and increasing heating in residence halls.

—Jen Geller