The Senate met for its weekly meeting on Sunday, hearing an unofficial opinion from the Union Judiciary regarding a recent vote to recognize the Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis. 

The Judiciary had investigated a Jan. 21 Senate vote that denied JFAB recognition as a probationary club, voicing its disagreement with that vote in a non-binding decision sent to the Senate. 

Contrary to what many senators argued when the Senate initially denied the group recognition, there is no duality of purpose in JFAB, Chief Justice Avraham Tsikhanovski ’21 told senators. He explained that the Judiciary found that JFAB is targeting Jewish feminist ideas that do not necessarily fall under Hillel’s umbrella organization or the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance’s goals. 

The Senate then heard once more from JFAB, whose president, Yael Jaffe ’18, sought to address concerns that senators brought up in the previous vote. Jaffe explained that she wanted to establish that JFAB is “intentionally-built and organized” and has had regular attendance and membership for about two years. 

JFAB has sought to sustain itself without funding from the Allocations Board by applying for grants and other funding opportunities. However, Jaffe said, that method of funding is not sustainable, and the club would like the option to apply for A-Board funding. 

Addressing the concern that JFAB might be exclusionary toward men, she said the group has had a lot of men at their events because their programming is directed at the Jewish community as a whole. Additionally, some Jewish men may feel more comfortable attending a JFAB event than another feminist events on campus, she said. 

Jewish feminism is not “feminism for Jews,” Jaffe said, adding that the group’s programming is focused on the experience at the intersection of Judaism and feminism. It would also be unreasonable to ask Hillel to become a steady source of feminist programming, as that is not necessarily the umbrella organization’s primary mission, Jaffe said. 

The group elected to stay in the room as the Senate discussed probationary status, with Jaffe saying that “there’s been a lot of talk about us without us.” The Senate voted to grant the group probationary status, with 16 voting in favor and one abstention. 

During executive officer reports, Senator-at-Large Shaquan McDowell ’18 asked why the Romper Room was restricted to club leaders while A-Board made its spring marathon decisions. A-Board Chair Aseem Kumar ’20 responded that the room was only restricted for a couple hours at a time. 

The Senate next moved into committee chair reports, with highlights including that the Services and Outreach Committee considered ending April Break Bunny Buses, the Bylaws Committee finalized some bylaws amendments, and the Sustainability and Dining Committees organized a meatless Monday for Usdan Dining Hall. 

The senators passed a Senate Money Resolution to cover expenses for the upcoming Midnight Buffet, moving into a discussion on amendments to the Senate bylaws. Class of 2018 Senator Abhishek Kulkarni explained that he wanted to create a standardized version of the bylaws to make them clearer. After discussing the amendments and passing one of them, the Senate moved to table for further discussion on the amendments until the next meeting. 

During individual senator reports, McDowell called upon his fellow senators to be more vocal in condemning former Men’s Basketball Coach Brian Meehan’s allegedly preferential and racially-biased treatment of players. He encouraged senators to reach out to their constituents to discuss the issue, adding that knowing about the issue is not the same thing as engaging with it.

Rosenthal Quad Senator Lizy Dabanka ’20 agreed, adding, “I think it’s important that none of us are shocked by what happened.” The student body should not applaud the administration for its reaction, she said, “because they knew,” nor should it applaud administrators’ words of affirmation and support, “because what else are they supposed to say?”

 —Abby Patkin