SGA Meeting 2/12
Absent: Sharan Mehta, Eva Sharma, Lily Scott, Dede Buckman, Deb Matus, Mo Alfonso
What is your favorite part of SGA?
The community, the people, all of you, exec board <3, you give us lots of $m the difference you make, exec board, Yong Jung Cho, saying “here” in roll call, getting my name called in roll call, Nkechi and Syona!, cheese puffs, I’m pleased with the temp, voting in straw polls, community, Yong Jung Cho, YJ!, break from Sunday hw, 2nd, seeing Emma, seeing Danyelle, abstaining/heckling, heckling, errthang, Lindsey Crowe!, knowing what’s going on, all the people!, the feistiness, looking @ all the hot mamas!, Kelly Wilkinson and Yong Jung, voting!, the community and empowerment, Exec Board, everbody!
Announcements
Saba Qadir ’13: Peer mentor applications are going to be out soon. We’re looking to hire some new peer mentors. We’re going to increase the number of peer mentors in the dorms, especially in Denbigh. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, keep your eyes out for an online application. On Friday we received an email from the health center about a survey – it’s asking health related questions, is completely anonymous, and takes about 20 minutes. The survey will give health center information about what kinds of services Bryn Mawr needs. We’ve never had a survey of this scale before so we’re really looking to have some participation in it.
Adelyn Kishabugh ’12: I’m the SoCo head. I just wanted to follow up on the discussion about having a stage in the campus center. Soon, we will have more data and an estimate of the price. There will be a presentation of different options so we can talk about this as an assembly in the future.
Irene Shin ’13: There’s going to be an off campus meeting on Thursday at 5pm in Taylor C so people who live off campus can talk about issues they’re having and network people who want to live off campus can get more information and maybe find a roommate. Spread the word.
Sarah Lovegren ’14: There are three things I wanted to talk about. The Civic Engagement Office is having a tax prep party on the 25th of February in Dalton in the basement from 1-4pm. If you’re staying on campus for spring break, talk to Margo Schall. They have an afterschool program and they don’t want to stop working over break. You’d only need to put in a few hours. There’s going to be a food justice workshop at St. Joe’s. The CEO will pay for you to go.
Priya Saxena ’12: We got an email from someone in the culinary club because someone stole their food out of the SGA house. Everyone knows that stealing food in the dorm is unacceptable and the same thing goes for the SGA house. It was inappropriate and it was SGA funded food. If you took the food, email the culinary club rep and arrange something to fix it.
YJ ’12: There was a Miss Representation screening on Thursday that over 50 people came to. The DVD is going into the library system and you can rent it starting at the end of next week. People who are interested in volunteering at Plenary will be there by 11:45 am. Plenary is next Sunday at 12:30pm. The current E. Board, the plenary committee, and new E. Board will be tabling for pledges. Monthly reports are due in the next two weeks so please submit your monthly report. You can talk about what meetings you went to and what you did this month. If you had any class teas you can talk about it in your monthly report.
Syona Arora and Nkechi Ampah ‘15: We’re recording a video for admissions. We’re going record clips of the 125 things that are on the 125th anniversary Bryn Mawr bucket list tee shirt. One of those things is “attend an SGA meeting” so we’re going to take a second to film everyone saying, “Welcome to Bryn Mawr.”
Mae Carlson ’12: Please come pick up Mawrk Notes for December and January.
Your Two Cents
Sarah Lovegren ’14: The CEO is experiencing a shortage of vans and we wanted to get input from students about whether or not you’re already feeling this pinch and what we can do to get more transportation on campus. Or any thoughts about transportation you may have.
Amanda Beardall ’14: There was a car accident so maybe that is why there was a shortage.
Julia Fahl ’12: Will SGA cover transportation costs from zip cars?
Tina Hu ’12: Yeah.
Julia Fahl ’12: We could order another zip car.
Sarah Lovegren ‘14: The problem is with groups of people wanting to do things and not having enough room to fit everyone. Also, we’re curious about van certification. Is it hard?
Sarah Theobald ’12: It’s a multistep process. It’s not hard but in order to complete all the steps you have to be there every day.
Natalie Zamora ’14: My friend is certified but she’s from Texas and doesn’t know how to drive in snow. Is there anything they can do about the training?
Elections Recap
Elizabeth Held ’12: New reps.
- Honor Board Head: Irene Shin ‘13
- President: Vrinda Varia ‘13
- Vice President: Tyler Garber ‘14
- Treasurer: Sowmya Srinivasan ‘13
- Secretary: Natalie Kato ‘14
- Appointments: Lauren Buckheit, Liz Barter, Rebecca Cook, Grace Chung
- Elections Head: Ali Raeber ‘13
- ’13 Co-Presidents: Emily Tong and Muna Aghaalnemer
There were 97 nominees. 66% of the nominees came from the exec board and elections board. The prize goes to Rebecca Sanders. The pool of candidates is not diverse when only 8 people are doing the nominating. Some people were double voting, but I checked the balance ahead of time and it wasn’t enough to affect anything. 2013 – you never vote, but you voted! Your numbers are way up good job. The voting is down from September and April but up from last Spring. Tabling is important. We tabled a run off election for the first time. Good job to everyone who took part in this round of elections.
Everyone: Anassa kata Elizabeth Held!
Plenary Resolution Presentations
Dorm President Elections and Eligibility
Blair Smith ’12, Lee McClenon ‘12, and Elizabeth Held ’12: Our resolution is to move dorm president elections to the spring. Angie supports it and resco supports it. The outgoing elections head(s) and resco head(s) will run an election in the spring after dorm draw and before room draw. Students may nominate themselves if they are studying abroad. One senior member of the assembly, a member of the current exec board or the exec board emeritus will run elections in various dorms. If no student in the dorm chooses to run, the elections will be rerun in the fall. Tradition reps will be elected at the first dorm meeting the first week of classes. The eligibility clause is that you can’t be an HA and a dorm president, you can’t be head traditions rep and dorm president, if you a customs person you can run but not with another customs person. This discussion has been happening for a while in res co, and this resolution is just to make it official and give them more training in the fall and alleviate pressure on people who take on too much responsibility in the dorm.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13:
Whereas, Bryn Mawr College has challenged the prejudices of the 19th Century by opening up academic opportunities for women and has sought to sustain a diverse community in belief that a deeper understanding of the world is only gained through considering many perspectives, as affirmed in its mission statement,
Whereas, in 1959, Bryn Mawr College became the only institution in Pennsylvania to decline aid rather than take on the role of informer during the Vietnam War when Congress required the College to report student protesters as condition of eligibility for government scholarship support,
Whereas, the student body prides itself in being a force for social justice and in its self-governance, making recommendations to the administration to bring about change in its own community,
Whereas, higher education is unattainable for 95% of undocumented youths who often do not know if they can apply to college without risking deportation; who are unable to obtain federal aid, private loans, and state grants; and who, like their families, are forced to work under the table at low wages,
Whereas, the Admissions and Financial Aid offices, renowned for their deep commitment to socioeconomic diversity, can make a transformative decision to publicly affirm fair admissions practice for undocumented Americans, whose status is not fairly acknowledged by the current categorization as international students,
Whereas, undocumented Americans comprise 4% of US population and face unique barriers of hardship, discrimination, and systemic oppression which we believe will bring valuable experiences into our community,
Be it resolved, the student body recommends that Admissions and Financial Aid offices continue to give fair admissions & financial aid consideration to undocumented Americans and post a statement of guarantee of a fair admissions process for undocumented Americans on their webpages and printed catalogues, encouraging them to apply,
The student body recommends the Admissions and Financial Aid offices to insert a check box for undocumented Americans on the supplement application, so that they can accurately self-identify and no longer be generalized as international students,
The student body recommends that the Development Office include in its alumnae contribution efforts an option for alumnae to donate to a pool of funding for undocumented admits,
The student body recommends that Bryn Mawr College opts out of E-Verify, which is not mandated by state or federal law, for non-federal contracted projects to respect the human right to work as stated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but to still protect any government-related funding to the College,
The student body recommends that Bryn Mawr College declares “sanctuary”–with the term sanctuary having no affiliation with any religion–following the recommendations above and disapproving of any involvement of immigration enforcement authorities that disrupts undocumented Bryn Mawr community members’ studies, safety, and well-being.
Adelyn Kishbaugh ’12: Have you spoken with the administration and admissions about the legal repercussions of this resolution?
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I’ve spoken to Dean Rasmussen, financial aid, the Chief Enrollment Officer, and people who work with them, but I haven’t meant with them yet. The arranged a meeting with me for tomorrow and seem receptive.
Julia Fahl ’12: Do you think this fits in with SGA’s commitment to being a non-political organization? Or should this be done through administration.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: Which part concerns you?
Julia Fahl ’12: There’s a heated political, issue behind this, and a Plenary resolution is statement is that we stand behind a certain political orientation. It is concerning when SGA states that it’s non political for it to support a resolution like this.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: Thanks. A lot of people probably have the same question. Was it political when BMC stared accepting African American students?
Julia Fahl ‘12: That wasn’t SGA. Signing as SGA in majority rule situation means that peoples’ political voices are overturned by the majority, and that’s not the role of SGA.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I understand. But I think you’re posting the same question.
Kelly Wilkinson ’14: SGA can get the support of the student body, but maybe not SGA’s job to decide this since we aren’t the admin of the college. I don’t know how it decided to accept African American students, but this might not necessarily be SGA’s place.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I think of the self-government association as making policies that make our school work. It’s for the students to really choose where we draw the boundary between us and the administration.
Blair Smith ’12: What I’m most concerned about with this as a plenary resolution is that it’s an advisement to administration to break federal laws, especially the clause about the alumnae association creating a fund to support undocumented students. That’s a violation of affirmative action laws and the school could be prosecuted.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I will check the legality of this clause.
Elizabeth Held ’12: Have you meet with the college lawyer?
Blair Smith ’12: Point of information: I talked to a lawyer about it and it’s pretty much all in violation of federal law.
Elizabeth Held ’12: I just curious about what happens when BMC declares itself a sanctuary state.
Blair Smith ’12: My mom’s a lawyer and she said almost every single line was illegal.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I’m not a lawyer, but as far as I’m concerned there’s no legal violation. There’s no law prohibiting any college from giving students access to education whether or not they’re citizens of the United States. I don‘t know what basis you’re speaking on or what specific laws you’re referring to.
YJ ’12: Please respect the speaking order. We have a very long speaking order right now.
Motion to extend to the end of speaking order. Seconded.
Courtney Pinkerton ’12: I see that your goal is to have students support this and give student a say, but what if we voted no?
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: That’s why it’s up for vote.
Courtney Pinkerton ’12: It’s not our place to make this decision. It’s not school politics, and it’s not for us to have a commentary on a national thing.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: What makes you think it’s not school politics? If Bryn Mawr is social justice minded it should have the guts to do what other people haven’t been doing because they think it’s, and not avoid it because it’s not their place or because it’s national politics. Bryn Mawr should not follow the norm if it doesn’t seem right.
YJ ’12: It seems like there are a lot of comments from assembly asking if you’ve spoken to the administration.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I spoke with admissions, financial aid, the Chief Enrollment office, and more and they’re supportive, but not we did not speak specifically about the clauses. I will know more tomorrow after our meeting. Dean Rasmussen is supportive.
YJ ’12: They will have more insight as to whether this will fit under a plenary resolution and more specific thoughts. A lot of these questions could have been answered with the info you’ll get tomorrow. Res require research before they’re presented to the assembly. If you had met with the administration before, this could have been a place for this to be presented. But this is just my summary of what assembly is saying.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I’m going to be having a Q and A in the middle of the week and will be able to answer student questions. As for the question about affirmative action, alumnae have they have different categories they can donate to.
Julia Fahl ’12: I have a question for E Board. Do we require a plenary resolution to be framed in a legal format? I think the legality of these statements is irrelevant and can be hashed out once we decide if we support the ethos of this resolution. So comments about the legality of the resolution are not germane in this situation.
YJ ’12: There’s no written protocol about how a resolution has to be worded. This could be a good project for the next E. Board.
Julia Fahl ’12: Is it a requirement to meet with the administration?
YJ ’12: Someone who is presenting a resolution must meet with the administration.
Julia Fahl ’12: Can SGA decide whether or not a resolution reaches Plenary?
YJ ’12: There are no decisions from SGA about whether a resolution reaches Plenary.
Sophie Balis-Harris ‘12: This resolution is not philosophically political. It has to do with a current piece of legislation going through legislative processes. It’s not appropriate to bring this into internal student processes.
Emma Rosenblum ’14: I think this resolution is brilliant and important regardless of what people say. There was a mention of students who are undocumented attending community college and needing to take a certain number of classes so they can get though. BMC is a pioneer in so many ways and so diverse, but we could expand. Maybe you could make this resolution so that you’re showing that we’ve demonstrated student support to assist more undocumented students in attending to college, but it could be helpful to work it a phrase so that BMC SGA isn’t so heavily involved in politics.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: Thank you. That’s a good idea. Now the resolution only recommends and encourages that the administration work a certain way. I think it’s better for this to come from student and SGA and not the administration.
YJ ’12: That’s the end of speaking order. Jessica is reachable by email.
Jessica Hyejin Li ’13: I will revise and work on it. My email is: hlee02
Extending hours of the post office
Yi Wang ’13: Students have expressed concern about times that the post office is open and this resolution recommends it be open 10am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. The CAO supports it.
Aya Martin Seaver ’13: If the post office is in support, do we have to bring this to Plenary?
YJ ’12: I spoke with the CAO. It helps them to get funding to have demonstrated student support, let’s do it.
Karina Siu ’12: We could put it at the beginning if we’re worried about length of plenary.
McBrides in Traditions
Julie Gorham ’12 via skype: Traditions strengthen the Bryn Mawr community and it’s everyone’s right to participate. McBride scholars often have unique circumsances that pose challenges to their participation in traditions. McBride scholars have the ability to facilitate said participation by appointing a traditions rep, but they cannot afacility without coord with trad misiion. Basically we wrote this because while Julia and Devanshi have been amazing in coordinating with Noa in making sure McBrides can participate fully in traditions, this hasn’t always been the case and might not be in future. This is just to ensure that McBrides can always participate whether or not they live on camps or if they have kids.
YJ ’12: Thank you Julie. The last resolution will be the reaffirmation of the constitution.
Term wrap up
YJ ’12: The next thing we wanted to do was have a term wrap up. There are a couple of loose ends that we need to tie up and the Exec Board is going to answer questions at the end. Regarding the Northwestern Letter, we emailed one of the students who is organizing it. If you weren’t here before, Northwester proposed an open letter and call of action for administration to provide a policy or start a discussion that is about student’s rights for protesting on campus. Last week there was a request to find out what the UCs think about it and how it came to be that Northwestern is starting this and who has signed on recently. Recently, the following schools have signed on: Ohio State, Swarthmore, the University of Chicago, Wash. U at St. Louis, and Smith College. UC Davis passed a similar resolution a while back condemning police violence. Northwestern felt that passing a resolution on their own campus and getting other campuses involved would be a statement of solitary. We can open this up for discussion or motion to vote “yes I approve signing this letter” and “no I don’t approve signing this letter.”
Motion to vote
Yes: Natalie Zamora, Kate Ciarlante, Sarah Lovegren, Julia Fahl, Sophie Balis-Harris, Angela Allard, Lindsey Crow, Carmen Lai, Melanie Rowe, Pam Lavin, Christine Calderon, Julia Stuart, Devanshi Vaid, Nora Chong, Amanda Beardall, Carolyn Jacoby, Karina Siu, Lynne Ammar, Gabby Marangell, Emma Geering, Danyelle Phillips, Daniele Arad-Neeman, Mo Alfonso, Emma Condy, Debbie Deegan, Amani Chowdhury, Elizabeth Olecki, Adelyn Kishbaugh, Sarah Theobald, Sharan Mehta, Sarah Jordan, Carmen Lai, Elizabeth Held, Lindsey Crowe, Kelly Wilkinson, Emma Rosenblum.
No: No one.
Abstain: Saba Qadir, Nkechi Ampah, Syona Arora, Irene Shin, Kendra Kelly, Courtney Pinkerton, Lee McClenon, Blair Smith, Emily Tong, Muna Aghaalnemer
YJ ’12: In regards to the yearbook, we decided not to do it in 2012. It’s ineffective for us to have yearly yearbook discussions. We propose that unless there is a group of students who strongly support having a yearbook, and half of the senior class agrees to purchase one, we’re not going to have one. We can talk more about a number of people who agree to buy one later. Does any one have any suggestions about how much of campus needs to show interest in buying a yearbook in order for us to order them. It’s a $1,500 dollar investment.
Blair Smith ’12: We should talk about having a zine form of a yearbook, so that it’s cheaper over all. It could be Nimbus like but larger.
YJ ’12: Any suggestions about the number of people who need to express interest in order for us to create one?
Aya Martin Seaver ‘13: We should have 70 percent of student body interest. 150 people should be our base.
Amanda Beardall ’14: We should have quorum be the amount of interest that we need.
Lee McClenon ’14: Recognizing that mostly seniors will be buying them, the number should two thirds of the senior class.
YJ ’12: We going to vote on whether the demonstrated interest in the yearbook should be quorum or two thirds of the senior class.
Two thirds of the senior class: Karina Siu, Lynne Ammar, Kelly Wilkinson, Lindsey Crowe, Gabby Marangell, Sarah Lovegren, Irene Shin, Emma Geering, Danyelle Phillips, Kate Ciarlante, Natalie Zamora, Courtney Pinkerton, Amani Chowdhury, Emma Condy, Debbie Deegan, Emma Rosenblum, Muna Aghaalnemer, Emily Tong, Lee McClenon, Blair Smith, Elizabeth Olecki, Adelyn Kishbaugh, Julia Stuart, Devanshi Vaid, Sarah Theobald, Sharan Mehta, Melanie Rowe, Pam Lavin, Carmen Lai, Nkechi Ampah, Syona Arora
Quorum: Kendra Kelly, Lili Elsesser, Saba Qadir
Abstain: Sophie Balis-Harris, Angela Allard, Julia Fahl, Christine Calderon, Daniele Arad-Neeman, Mo Alfonso, Alice Fischer, Aya Martin Seaver
YJ ’12: We will still have senior portraits. We will consult with Nora Chong.
E Board Goodbyes
Priya Saxena ’12: I have been on the honor board since my freshman year at Bryn Mawr. I have seen enough to be jaded but I’m not so that’s good. Being on the honor board involves seeing a lot of conflict and negativity. The glimmer of light is that in every case you can see Mawrtyrs willingness to improve. One thing that I‘ve noticed is a desire and an obsession to improve ourselves. We can see these characteristics in SGA. Sometimes I say things under my breath but I do recognize the assembly’s willingness to improve and passion, which are two great characteristics. Student with should not let passion cloud logic or objectivity. It’s important to consider different viewpoints and not believe your personal passion is the center of everything. Throughout my term as honor board head, I’ve seen that people take what they’re passionate about and apply it everything, which causes a lot of unneeded conflict. It leads to great events for the college, but I can see how something it hurts the campus. We’re fortunate at BMC because everyone’s considerate of other people’s concerns and passions, and you may not get that in the real world. Though you may have the best of intentions, it’s important to look at world through a different lens. Thanks to everyone on the honor board.
Rebecca Sanders ’12: The appointments committee does a lot of work and doesn’t get thanked for it so thanks to the appointments committee. We interviewed over 100 people and filled over 80 positions. Being a part of SGA renewed my belief in self-government. The turning point for me was the 7 sisters conference and how a lot of people have a faculty advisor. It’s great that we have no representative from the faculty dictating whom we work with. I wanted to say you should take advantage of the opportunity we have for self-governance. If you’re passionate about something and want to work hard, go for it and do it. It was incredibly frustrating and not being able to have a say in discussion particularly at plenary you all have a vote and you all have a say, so if you have a opinions say them
Tina Hu ’12: It has been really fun being treasurer and I hope that all club leaders have felt that club budgeting was friendly this semester and have a better understanding of how SGA and SFC works. SFC was really on top of everything this semester. Give them a round of applause. I always wanted to say this phrase that I saw in a youtube video once: swag me out.
Mae Carlson ’12: I’ve learned a lot from being a part of SGA and the Exec Board, so thank you. Even though sometimes conversations get heated, that’s what makes SGA so great. I think it’s important not to take the opportunity we have for self government for granted. But mostly thank you for this experience.
Irene Shin ’13: Motion to extend time.
Seconded
YJ ’12: When I ran to be SGA president I ran because I love Bryn Mawr and I had a few good ideas about how relationships between students could be nurtured. Looking back on my experience I really think I could not have done what I did and could not have put in the hours that I did if I didn’t love Bryn Mawr self governance. The honor code is self-governance. It’s freedom in terms of student life. Self-governance permeates every single Mawrtyr’s experience at Bryn Mawr. We’re the organization that allows for people to have their own voice. I know some people think, “why are we talking about this when I could be doing my homework” but you really have incredible potential to make a big impact on this campus. Be proud of what you do because you can and do make a real impact on this campus by going to faculty meetings and going to meetings in the OIA. It takes a lot of time and you do make a big impact on this campus. Make the changes you want to see because that’s what makes a successful self-governance association. I wanted to thank the assembly. I had this moment at a meeting one time where I felt like we are a really really great team. Sometimes conversations get heated and we bump up against barriers, but that’s what makes us successful. Even though it’s stressful we should embrace it because that’s exactly what we need. We all worked really really hard. I know the monthly reports are annoying, but they’re important so you should do that. I wanted to thank my Exec Board. Priya is incredibly quick thinking and articulate. She has a great perspective on fairness and always has a comment about what is fair for E. Board and the student body. Rebecca is my second in command. When I didn’t want to do anything, it went to Rebecca and she always had a can do attitude and volunteered to do everything. Tina was a pleasure to work with. She’s incredibly organized and always able to bring us back into perspective. I would be like “let’s buy this!” and tina would be like “where is this money coming from.” Mae and I have opposite leadership styles and even though sometimes we disagree it’s good. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends. I spent over 20 hours a week sometimes on SGA stuff, and it’s great to have a group of people behind you. We were going to have a q and a, if you guys have any questions, or we could stop since we’re running out of time.
Old Business
Julia Fahl ’12: The Board of Trustees came this weekend. You can look at my monthly report to see more information. This most directly affects the students who will be matriculating later, but in fall of 2014 the one card system and registration and general class stuff in between Haverford and BMC, will be totally streamlined. All the classes will be in one list and your one card will work at Haverford. This is first summer we won’t have any major construction on campus, so there’s going to be a lot of refurbishing. The cow path is going to be gone. They’re doing new paving. Frederick Law Olmsted constructed the green and they’re trying to channel his original vision. If you have any questions let me know. And give to the senior class gift!
Blair Smith ’12 and Lee McClenon ’14: Don’t use appliances in your room, burn candles, or incense, or smoke inside.
Sarah Theobald ’12: The elections board is calling for tablers. If you table there are really awesome prizes. The winners will see them in their mailbox. Priya, Nora, and Syona you won a prize!
YJ ’12: I’m part of the sustainability leadership group. It’s a 12 person group that talks about environmentally conscious initiatives and conservation on campus. The SGA president also goes to diversity council meetings. We talked about special events in regards to Class Dismissed?. We’re having an event called Bedtime stories on February 23rd in Rhoads common room. President McAuliffe, Dean Rasmussen, Michaile Rainey, Angie Sheets, and Elizabeth Mosier will be there and will share stories about a moment when they felt different in terms of class. It’s a chance to get to know the staff and faculty in a different more personal setting. I went to the finance meeting of the Board of Trustees. They talked about how to increase financial aid and the tuition aid discount. They’re searching for additional housing because we’re going to admit more students next year. Bryn Mawr’s bonds are over subscribed, which means Bryn Mawr is a safe investment. We’re trying to redo how we spend out our endowment, stay competitive, and ensure racial equality.
New business
Irene Shin: I want to motion to not have SGA the week after Plenary, since the Posse retreat is going on and the Oscars, so a lot of people not not be able to
Seconded
SGA meeting is canceled.
YJ ’12: The first meeting with the new Exec Board will be March 18th .