Meeting Notes for SGA General Assembly 9/18/22
In Attendance from E-Board:
President Ananya Hindocha ‘23
Vice President Desi Bagot ‘24
Secretary Bryn Osborne ‘24
Co-Treasurer Catherine Fu ‘23
Co-Treasurer Lola Rodrigues ‘23
Honor Board Chair Carlee Warfield ‘23
In Attendance from Administration: Mia Harvey, Student Engagement Coordinator
Groups called to Meeting: Representative Council, Club Representatives
Meeting Agenda
- Community Comment
- E-Board Introductions
- Announcements and Upcoming Events
- Rep-Co Attendance
- Explanation of Roles
- Voiding Elections
- Budget Voting
- Community Comment
No comments or concerns were raised
- E-Board Introductions
The SGA E-Board, excluding Social Justice and Equity Chair Fatmata Sesay ‘23 who was absent, introduced themselves and explained their roles and responsibilities as members of the Executive Board (refer to meeting powerpoint for more detail)
- Announcements and Upcoming Events
The SGA Secretary updated the student body on upcoming SGA events for the semester. They are listed below:
Night Market- Oct 28th from 8:00-10:00 PM
Strike 101- Nov 6th at 7:30 PM
Plenary- Nov 13 at 7:00 PM
Big Cheese- TBD
Bi-weekly SGA Office Hours from 9:00-10:00 PM in the SGA Office
Weekly SGA Assembly Meetings at 8:00 PM
- Representative Council Attendance
The SGA Secretary took attendance for the Representative Council. Refer to the spreadsheet linked below for a full attendance list. Quorum was met.
- Explanation of Roles
The SGA President explained the various responsibilities of Representative Council roles, including but not limited to Dorm Positions, Committee heads, Honor Board members, and elected members of the Representative Council. Refer to the meeting powerpoint for a detailed explanation of roles. Descriptions can also be found in the Constitution on the SGA Website.
- Voiding of Election Results
The SGA President explained to the Assembly that there would need to be a RepCo vote in order to partially void the elections that were held earlier in September. Multiple issues with the elections occurred, including people being put on the ballot who did not accept their nominations, incorrect tabulation of results, class positions being listed incorrectly on nominations forms, some candidates being run without candidate statements, and a position that received nominations not being included on the ballot. As a result, there are vacancies that need to be filled on both the Representative Council and the Honor Board. The positions that were affected, the 2-year Class of 2025 Honor Board Rep and the 1-year Class of 2025 Honor Board Rep, will be run in the next set of elections later this month.
RepCo voted unanimously to void the positions in question from the previous election.
- Voting On Budgets
RepCo Vote on Non-Objected Budgets
SFC Treasurers proceeded to read through the proposed budget allocations for each club and asked for objections. Representatives of clubs could object to their budgets, which were then flagged and debated following the passing of the non-objected budgets
Representative Council voted almost unanimously to pass the non-objected budgets
Debate of Flagged Budgets
Rules: Representative of the objecting club has 5 minutes to present their case, then there will be 3 minutes of open discussion. Discussion may be extended by formal motion. The Representative Council will then vote Yes, to change the budget, No, to sustain the budget, or Abstain.
- Association of International Students (AIS): Budgeted 300 for night market and 150 for Thanksgiving movie night and other international holidays, need more money in this post-pandemic club atmosphere, want to connect more with international student community and support international students, would accept minimum of $450
SFC Treasurers: Have you sought AMO funding from the Pensby center? AMOs are eligible for up to $1000 in funding from the Pensby center
AIS: Yes, but still in the process of getting approval
RepCo votes yes, AIS budget raised to $450
- Bico News: Looking for more money because they are completely remodeling their office in the basement of Erdman, remodel is costing a lot of money and physical labor, want to provide staff with adequate equipment and safe working space, provide socials and other events for the community, Bico news is the only paper serving both Haverford and Bryn Mawr, asking for a minimum of $3,500
SFC Treasurers: Part of your budget contains renovation and labor costs for the Spring, and funds do not roll over from the Fall semester. If you don’t spend enough of your budget, you will be penalized and receive less next semester. The cuts to your budget came from the specific allocations for the Spring semester
Bico News voluntarily withdrew their objection, no RepCo vote
- BMC Fencing Club: We acknowledge that we are asking for a lot of money, but we go to 5 or 6 tournaments over the course of the semester, prices of tournaments have been increased, we are hosting our own tournament this year and in order to get that up and running, we need equipment for scoring, tape for boundaries. We currently have 36 members regularly coming to practice, they need safety equipment that is up to par, if we didn’t have people bringing their own equipment we wouldn’t have enough, 3 official coaches practices a week, have to pay coaches, similar amount of commitment as a varsity sports with more limited budget, we want everyone to be able to participate
Elle Thompson ‘23: What is the least amount of money you would accept?
Aaniyah Alexander ‘25: What was your budget from last spring?
Mia Harvey (Student engagement): Do you have events listed for the Spring on your budget?
BMC Fencing: Don’t currently have numbers for last spring’s budget, have money delegated for Spring but that has to be paid in the fall to remain a member of certain fencing consortiums
Motion to extend discussion for 3 more min passed
Mia Harvey: What equipment do you already have? And what equipment do you need?
BMC Fencing: We already have equipment for some, but we need more. Fencing requires under breast plate, arm vein guards, jackets, pants, knickers, masks, weapons, electric equipment, etc. If equipment is not up to standard at tournament you get carded and penalized, our electrical equipment has been broken broken, currently have 2 or 3 working foils, need to repair ones that are broken, jackets and other clothes have to be individually sized in order to protect adequately
Mia Harvey: You have money budgeted to purchase a storage cabinet, is there any way you can get other storage?
BMC Fencing: Equipment is stored in the grad school gym, not sure about space but equipment is hard to carry back to campus from grad school, need more storage on campus
SFC Treasurers: Are there any other departments that could give funding?
BMC Fencing: We do have outside fundraising, trying to get merch and asking for funds outside for another 3-5k, cannot ask athletic department as we are not a varsity sport
Repco votes yes with 23 yes, 14 no, 8 abstain, Fencing budget raised to $18,471
- Dharmic Students Association (DSA): Every year they throw a large Diwali festival which is open to the Bico, students of all faiths attend and it’s a very large cultural festival. Especially at a PWI institution, students of color and of minority faiths need a safe space to celebrate their cultural holidays, celebration is expected to be larger than ever this year and therefore request more funding.
SFC Treasurers: We spoke with DSA and they agreed to collaborate with SAS for Diwali dinner and pool funding. This is where most of the budget cutting came from, as DSA still budgeted for an individual Diwali event.
DSA: In the future there will be more outside members participating, more of an opportunity to reach people, even with the budget for last year food ran out at both diwali and night market, want to have a safe cultural space for as many people as possible. We would be happy to collaborate with SAS, but we still need more funding.
SFC Treasurers: Have you sought AMO funding from Pensby?
DSA: Diwali is coming up in about a month, in talks with Pensby but need guaranteed funding more quickly
SAS President: We have also sustained a decent sized budget cut, and we want to make sure that DSA has a sufficient budget for Diwali, as we will be able to contribute less
Repco voted yes, DSA budget increased to $5,250
- FemCo: Under new management from previous year, goal for this year is to focus on holistic healthcare, majority of budget going to period products for the entire school, putting only free pads and tampons on first floor due to limited budget, want to increase to every bathroom on campus, also want to host condom drop, gett a speaker for gender non-conforming students, menstrual health and sexual health is difficult to navigate and want affirming speakers, minimum acceptable budget is $7,000
Audience Member: I haven’t seen period products in the bathrooms yet, is this project in development or already in place?
FemCo: Project was just approved, only part of budget is for first floor bathrooms, period products are expensive and the budget needs to be built over time, coordinating with a company to hopefully get assistance in providing these products
Further discussion around plans for semester events and speaking costs
RepCo voted yes, FemCo budget increased to $7,120
- Haveritmo: This is our second year as a performance club, we asked for the absolute minimum that we need, wanted to extend to Haverford to look for more members but weren’t able to get funding from haverford, asked for $595 for 3 dance pieces for this fall, we don’t have costumes or attire because we are a newly established club, want to host team bonding events, money goes towards club retention, we have about 18 dancers and were invited to over 10 performances last semester, $595 is bare minimum that we could accept
SFC Treasurers: The bylaws say that clubs can get a maximum of 50% of what you had last semester and you are a new team. Additionally, you wanted team wide performance attire, would this be for performances or just merchandise?
Haveritmo: We are looking for funding for costumes, also need to allocate for knee pads because of floor work harming dancer’s knees
Mia Harvey: You have listed funding for performing in the RnM showcase, do you have confirmation of this performance?
RnM President: No, the show is not fully scheduled yet
Mia Harvey: $395 total is listed for costumes, is RnM costume budget different?
Haveritmo: Need money for different cultural attires, allocating for the future
SFC Treasurers: Do you have a method of storage for knee pads?
Haveritmo: We do not currently have storage, but knee pads will stay with the club and be passed down
Audience Member: Danced with Haveritmo, I endorse that they need knee protection
Treasurer of Twist: Also being asked to dance at RnM showcase, not sure if they will dance at FSDC, didn’t have an official place to store things but have passed down equipment
Repco votes yes, Haveritmo budget increased to $595
- Mayuri: Gained 4 more new members, we need new costumes and makeup for these new members, lots of our costumes are from 2004 and no longer fit to use, need more funding to compensate for all shades of makeup and body types, current makeup was damaged in floods, need transportation from Swarthmore for 3 practices a week and the Trico van does not work with class schedules, asking for minimum increase to $1800-$1900
SFC Treasurers: Budget cuts came from transportation allocation because of Tri-co Van service, left small buffer of $200 in case of missing the van
Mayuri: We try to schedule around Trico buses but with more people it wasn’t possible, schedule conflicts heavily with labs and classes at Bryn Mawr
Repco votes almost unanimously yes, increase to $1850 for Mayuri
- MENA: We do understand that $250 is the limit for new clubs, but our club was technically established in Spring 2021, we are currently in the process of becoming AMO but haven’t been established yet, we already cut the most amount possible and spent out of pocket for Fall Frolic, this leaves $35 for snacks for the entire semester, less money for Night Market, wanted to have a mixer, do not feel represented by current AMOS, want a specific space for Middle Eastern and North African students at a PWI institution
SGA President: Giving a club who is budgeting for the first time more than $250 is against the SFC bylaws, changing that budget cap has to be a plenary resolution, RepCo cannot vote on this change as it is against the bylaws
Motion withdrawn
- Mujeres: Budget includes funding for Latinx heritage month, includes other events for semester. We are holding record numbers of Mujeres events, 12 in 4 weeks, trying to revamp a club that has been dormant during covid. Working on building up the budget, lots includes bringing back old traditions and relationships with Haverford and Swarthmore, and also wants to build more community with ECC. Need to provide cultural food during meetings, people showing up are FGLI and low income, Mujeres is critical for mental health support at a PWI, haven’t seen this many people show up to meetings since pre pandemic, want to bring back Mujeres as an educational tool for entire student body
RepCo votes yes, Mujeres budget increased to $11,000
- Night Owls: We record and produce album every 2 years, hoping to start this process and release album next fall, budget looks large but doing big important project, spending at least $4800 on recording alone this semester, not including session we might have to add, only leaves us with 5 dollars for concerts and events, planning to go caroling at CHOP, putting lots of effort into making Night Owls more inclusive, rewriting constitution, need transportation to studios, minimum is $5505
SFC Treasurer: CHOP caroling is not in the budget for transportation. Additionally, you wanted administrative supplies, can you explain what those would be?
Night Owls: Transportation would not be for CHOP event, caroling would be a volunteer event and not in the budget. Administrative supplies would largely be flash drives, willing to cut that out
Mia Harvey: How far away is the recording studio?
SFC Treasurers: Did you calculate the full cost through the transportation website?
Night Owls: Planning to largely use student cars this semester, also don’t know for sure if everyone is able to drive every time, not able to calculate exact amount, want to have base amount to go to locations
RepCo vote passes, Night Owls Budget increased to $5,505
- Sisterhood: We are a black affinity group AMO, trying to create a safe space for Black and African diaspora students to come together. We actually have to up our budget, as the number doesn’t include funding for the Black Love event. Our inimum ask is $7500, Black Love is a Trico event that happens in the spring, money needed to secure entertainment for the spring semester, traditional cloths from Africa with international shipping costs. Also trying to bring back past events like slumber party, halloween bash open to the entire BMC community. Black Love is hosted at BMc every 3 years. Most of the budget for spring goes to Black history month and Black Love, need the money to help create a safe space on campus for Black students and restart events that didn’t occur during COVID.
Mia Harvey: Can you clarify what costs are for the Fall vs the spring?
Sisterhood: We are trying to send goody bags for winter break, get snacks, money for gen bod meetings, everything on budget is for fall. Our sister circle is not open to the Bico, only for freshman bipoc students. However, there is a portion of the event after that is open to everyone.
Discussions continued about Fall vs. Spring budgeting allocation
RepCo voted yes, Sisterhood budget increased to $7,750
- Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC): Hosting the exact same events as last year except $600 less in the budget, requesting the full amount as they have precisely budgeted
SFC: You budgeted for “Plenary Challenge,” this is a left-over event from when Plenary was hosted in person, and we are not planning on having in-person Plenary voting this semester
SAAC was unaware of plenary plans, voluntarily withdrew motion
- Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP): We were only given $250, but we were registered and had budget last semester, previously used funds for clothing swap, snacks, want more community outreach and transport to Philadelphia to protest illegal occupation of Palestine by Israeli settler-colonialists
SFC Treasurers: You listed yourself as a new club on budget summary, we have no record of you receiving money from SGA before, you did receive funding from the President’s office, so we cannot give you more than $250
Motion withdrawn by SJP Representative
- Table Tennis Club: Need to purchase entry to table tennis association tournament and participate, need money for hotel and transportation to Pittsburgh where tournament is being held, if they don’t participate, they will not be eligible for the whole academic year. Found a new woman coach who is very skilled, wants a women’s coach for lots of physical contact in ping pong, previous issues with male coaches harassing students, also needs a new table and buy new equipment.
Mia Harvey: Will the new ping pong table be a replacement or addition?
Table Tennis: It will be a replacement for an old table
Mia Harvey: What are you doing with the old table? How will you get rid of it?
Table Tennis: Talked to facilities, have plan for disposal
Mia Harvey: What is this robot you have listed in the budget for?
Table Tennis: A player can practice with table tennis machine/robot when they do not have opponents available
Mia Harvey: Would you be willing to move the robot cost to next semester?
Table Tennis: Yes, we can move to next semester
SFC Treasurers: According to bylaws, apparel will only be used for performance. We had to cut apparel for non-performance because it’s not allowed in bylaws, also we technically do not cover things for off-campus events, such as plane tickets. If we take out all things against the bylaws, your budget will be less than we already granted. The president’s office covered previous airfare for you
Continued discussion about prices of train tickets and hotels, meals and transportation costs. Calculated new cost of transportation and participation.
Repco voted yes, Table Tennis Budget was increased to $7,000
This concluded objected-to budget discussions.
The SGA Assembly adjourned at 10:30 PM.