At its Feb. 11 meeting, the Student Union Senate gave probationary status to two new clubs, reviewed an upcoming initiative from the Social Justice Committee and discussed improving the transparency of future Senate meetings.

Bintou Baysmore ’25 and Emmanuel Hernandez ’24, captain and co-captain of the Platinum Step Club respectively, requested that the Senate grant their club probationary status. Step-dancing is a form of dance rooted in African traditions, and the Platinum Step Club at Brandeis’ mission is to teach and improve upon teamwork, unity, community and creativity. Baysmore and Hernandez described the importance of becoming a club and shared the Platinum Step Club’s past accomplishments when making their case. The Senate voted to give the Platinum Step Club probationary status by acclamation. 

Various members of the Brandeis Mixed Martial Arts Club asked that the Senate give their club probationary status. Mixed Martial Arts is a collection of arts that originated from fighters from different martial arts backgrounds competing against each other. There are currently multiple martial arts clubs at Brandeis, but not all styles of martial arts are represented, nor is there an existing space to mix various aspects of different styles. The MMA Club would offer a broader and more eclectic view of combat and self-defense. They have hopes of reaching out to outside instructors for specialized seminars and potentially working with other martial arts clubs on campus. The Senate voted to give the Mixed Martial Arts Club probationary status by acclimation.

Senator Ria Escamilla-Gil ’27, co-chair of the Social Justice Committee, presented on the Sunflower Lanyard Initiative that SOJO is currently working on. This initiative is designed to bring attention and raise awareness of the presence of hidden disabilities, with a sunflower lanyard and ID card to indicate that students carrying them need more support — be it mental or physical. Students would receive a generic sunflower lanyard, bracelet or pin/badge with a personalized ID card documenting their disability. The vote for this initiative is expected to take place at the next senate meeting on Mar. 3. 

Senator Antis Wang ’27 proposed increased transparency of Student Union meetings to the Senate. Wang suggested that an audio or video recording of every senate meeting could be made available to the public to improve openness and allow other students to see what Senate meetings look like. If they were to be uploaded to the Student Union website, not only could students access a helpful log of every meeting, but students could also determine if they are interested in joining the Student Union.

— Editor’s Note: Justice Editor Rani Balakrishna ’25 is the Student Union’s director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and did not contribute to this article.