On Monday evening, the first Saint Mary’s Senate meeting of the semester was held in Rice Commons to discuss changes to the Student Government Association (SGA) Bylaws.
The meeting began with a prayer by SGA secretary Lauren Lindbloom. Student Body President Kaitlyn Baker welcomed two new sophomore senators, Marilla Opra and Sydney Enlow. Baker also welcomed sophomore Malia Hosoi-Gallucci, the new food chair.
“I wanted to get involved with SGA last year, but I was too busy,” Opra said. “When I came back from studying abroad this spring and they had an opening, I thought it was perfect.”
Opra said her responsibilities include attending Senate meetings, voting on different motions and serving on the Finance Committee to approve club funding.
The first topic of discussion was the Navy Social, held after the Navy football game. Emma McCarthy, the SGA mission co-chair, said the event was a collaborative effort between SGA, Student Activities Board, the Residence Hall Association and the class of 2017. According to McCarthy, the event sold out in 12 minutes, and 100 midshipmen were in attendance.
“I would want the mission committee to take over [the Navy Social] because it does tie in the tradition of the College with the tradition between the Navy and our sisters,” McCarthy said. “Adding the Navy Social under the mission chair would save the future planner a huge headache.”
The Senate also discussed the possibility of eliminating the First Year Concerns position. Baker said the original duties of the position consisted of helping first-year students get acquainted to each other, giving assistance to admissions and serving as a liaison between SGA and the first-year students.
“We no longer think they have a role,” Baker said. “We want to change the position to ‘Big Belle, Little Belle’ chair, which includes recruiting ‘Big Belles’ from the junior class, working with admissions to recruit incoming first-years and hosting events throughout the year.”
Baker proposed that Belles Beginnings Pre-Festival, the activities before Domer Fest each year, will no longer be First Year Concerns responsibility, but the responsibility of the community chair.
The Senate also moved to change the international chair to community justice chair. Baker said Senate hopes to start recording certain events and lectures and posting them on social media, in order to create conversations about controversial topics on campus.
“Rather than focusing on international students, we want to focus on all underrepresented students and clubs,” Baker said. “We want to change the Bylaws to give community justice chair a more defined role.”
Baker said the community justice chair would be in charge of an additional new event called Monthly Mingles, a conversation centered around a specific topic for students to discuss with no media and no faculty present.
The Senate unanimously approved all proposed changes to the SGA Bylaws.
