On Oct. 4, the Student Union Senate held its first meeting of this academic year. Student Union Vice President, Monica Lopez Hernandez ’28, called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Senators went around the room, introducing themselves with their name, year, position and major, along with an ice-breaker question to allow senators to get to know each other better. After the introductions, Hernandez took the roll call. The first order of business on the agenda was club charters, recognition or de-charters, which for this meeting were none. 

Following that, the senate reviewed the Executive Board’s Executive Money Resolution for Family Weekend, which is an event the Student Union puts on annually. Last year, it did a jeopardy-style event. This year, since Family Weekend and Alumni Weekend will be on the same day, the Student Union plans to arrange a pumpkin painting and decorating event. 

The Senate then discussed committee clubs with Hernandez informing senators that the form needs to be filled out by everyone and they will then be divided into different committees according to their preference and availability. The senate committees consist of Advocacy, Campus Life, Health and Wellness, Internal Operations and Club Support. The committee chairs and co-chairs will be selected in the coming meetings. 

The senate then had to vote for an executive senator and an Allocations board representative. Luke Farberman ’27 advocated to be appointed as the executive senator, stating that he wants to “help everyone in the work that they want to achieve.” He has also been a part of the Senate since January 2024. The executive senator is second in command for the Senate and is the first point of contact for senators, song with a bridge for Senate and E-board. Hernandez called for a motion to vote by acclimation, which was seconded by Farberman. The motion then passed with a unanimous vote, appointing Farberman as the executive senator. 

For the A-board representative, Judah Friedman ’30 nominated himself to be elected for this position. “I want to be the A-board representative to connect us, as the representative of students,” he stated. The A-board representative is in direct contact with the Allocation Board, especially during marathon season when clubs request funding for the year. A motion to vote by acclamation was called and seconded. This motion passed with a unanimous vote as well. 

Hernandez then talked about homecoming, an event on Saturday that the Student Union tabled for, asking senators for feedback on it. Jordan Medved ’28 said that there should have been “one or two more food trucks so that there’s more options for people who like different types of cuisine.” Julia Velasco ’30 suggested that the Student Union might have benefitted from having a more interactive way of getting students to vote rather than just showing their phone “something like spin the wheel.” 

Alexa Johnson ’29 added to this by outlining ways in which they could make it more interactive — senators could ask the student body what they would like to improve on campus, inform them about what the Student Union does and overall help them voice their opinions. 

Hernandez then informed the senate that the E-board is doing a constitution review, made up of five members. She urged senators to have a look at the senate portion of the constitution and inform Farberman or her of any changes they would like to it. She then moved on to talk about a Campus Safety walk that Student Union President, Daniel Shin ’27, Hernandez and the health and wellness director on E-board will go on with Brandeis Safety Chief Matthew Rushton towards the end of October to address any safety concerns.

Hernandez also made announcements about events that will be happening throughout the week, urging senators to attend. These included an academics town on Oct. 15 hall where Dean Shoulson, President Arthur Levine ’77 and other administrators will be giving information about microcredentials and more. The other event, “Purpose of a College Classroom” on Oct. 8, is a conversation about students and how to make the classroom experience more student-oriented. 

Hernandez also asked senators to suggest potential senate bonding ideas to get to know each other outside of the capacity of the Senate. Mariah Martinez ’29 suggested that the Senate and E-board should do something competitive like a “friendly-fire.” Friedman suggested bowling as a way to get to know people in an off-campus activity. 

Along with these announcements, Hernandez informed senators that the club resource room is used by everyone and asked members to keep both the office and the resource room organized. Farberman also announced that the senate had unfinished business from last semester, including resolutions that had not been passed at the time and were pushed ahead. He stated that he will be sending the resolutions on the student union Slack, and the voting for them will take place after everyone has read the resolutions and questions have been answered. Hernandez informed the senate that passing a resolution means thinking about its future implications — does it affect another aspect of student life, and if this resolution passes, what changes will it bring? 

Lastly, Hernandez asked if any senator wanted to make an announcement for campus events or promote their club event. She then announced that the Brandeis Latino Student Organization is having their cultural show on Oct. 17. The meeting concluded at 7:40 p.m.