The Student Government Association (SGA) held meetings on Sunday, April 7 and Sunday, April 14.
Election Season
SGA President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 announced that elections for next year’s open SGA positions will be held on Wednesday, May 1. A meeting for prospective candidates was held on Tuesday, April 16. A separate meeting at a time to be determined will be held for Ross Commons students who will be in room draw during the original meeting.
Appointments and Approvals
New Student Liaison to the SGA on Endowment Affairs Josh Rombach ’14 was approved unanimously by the SGA. Additionally, the SGA approved the Executive Accounts Restructure Act unanimously.
Finance Committee Concerns
Evan Allis ’15.5 addressed concerns that were raised against him to the Finance Committee regarding financial oversight.
“In advocating for continued oversight of Finance Committee spending, I referenced student body support for divestment efforts, hoping to illustrate a larger point about the community’s concern for the way in which money gets spent at Middlebury,” said Allis.
Allis clarified that his intention was not to prevent students from serving on the committee based on their personal opinions about divestment.
“Furthermore, as I understand it, the bill coming before the Senate next week has been amended to accommodate the very concerns I raised, including providing advance notice for which groups will be seeking funding on a given week, and regular reports concerning the Finance Committee’s approach to approving or denying these requests. If you ask me, this whole thing blew up over a misunderstanding.”
A bill relating to this subject will be presented to the SGA at the meeting on Sunday, April 21.
Constitution Committee
Dan Tenner ’13, the SGA Constitution Committee Chair, came to the meeting on the April 14 to discuss manners relating to constitutional review. He informed the SGA that steps were being taken to improve this process and make it more than a process of simply copying and pasting new information into constitutions.
A new bylaw to the constitution was approved by the SGA. The language of the bylaw was not significantly different, but the big change is that organizations cannot be formed during winter term, and that all groups must have leadership or they will be classified as inactive.
We the Middkids
Without a great deal of business on the table, the SGA was able to discuss student concerns that have been voiced on the new online forum “We the Middkids.” Arnowitz was pleased by the discussion.
“The “We the Middkids” initiative is going well and we’re very happy about the high rates of participation and the diversity of petitions on it,“ he said.
Issues related to new printers, party registration and lounge spaces were all discussed, but no action has been taken yet.
Party Registration
Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams spoke to the SGA about the College’s party policy. He spoke briefly about the College’s party regulations, answering senators’ questions as to how the party scene at the College has changed over the past ten years.
Adams cited a significant reduction in larger registered parties hosted in campus social houses and lounges along with a corresponding increase in the more problematic unregistered events. Adams asked for SGA senators to volunteer to serve on a committee to review current policies and make recommendations for changes. Four Senators signed on.
Ross Commons Lounge Space
Firas Nasr ’15 voiced his support relating to a petition to turn the current language table space in Ross dining hall into a lounge space.
“Due to a crunch in housing space on campus, new students are now being housed in the lounge spaces on every floor in Hadley and Miliken in Ross Commons,” said Nasr. “Unfortunately, this takes away from our ability to connect with each other and build community. We would like to bring back the Fireplace Lounge to remedy this situation.”
No decision was made on the fate of the lounge space.
SGA Update: SGA elections to be held May 1
Comments
