Before the final senate meeting of the 2023-2024 student government term, members of the senate reflected on highlights from the year. Many senators said the senate was a good way to get to know others and were grateful for their experience in leadership.
To kick off the official senate agenda, director of disability advocacy Mary Grace Walsh gave a presentation about making social media more accessible to those with disabilities. The infographic discussed closed captions, hashtags, color and font choices, emojis and how to create video and photo descriptions.
“It’s important to have access to special media, especially because our generation uses social media so much,” she said. She said she hopes the student leaders in the senate will use the accessibility features she discussed to make the campus more inclusive.
Then, student body president Daniel Jung gave his final state of the union address. In it, he described some notable developments in student government since the last state of the union address in November 2023.
He said events included: a presentation on student life to the Board of Trustees, Wellness Week, Walk the Walk Week 2024, the Black Excellence Dinner, a stronger relationship between the student union and NDPD, the reinstitution of Campus Life Council, Civic Engagement Week, the completion of First Undergraduate Experience in Leadership (FUEL) projects, Fr. Mike Schmitz’s visit to campus, Back the Bend and Taste of South Bend 2024, a first-generation low-income student dinner, Pridefest and other developments with various members of University leadership.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve as student body president,” Jung said. “It has been an honor to work with each and every one of you.”
Next, the senate passed a resolution SS2324-13 to update hall flags on the track in the Smith Center. The flags do not include the newest residence halls, Johnson Family Hall and Baumer Hall, and still include Zahm Hall, which was discontinued in 2021.
The senate also passed order SO2324-25 to establish a legislative formatting code to make the legislation more consistent from year to year. The order does not establish the rules but is a movement to create a guideline for formatting and content for future legislation.
The senate then considered nominations for the next 2024-2025 Student Union Board (SUB) executive director. Nominees included junior Jamil Allan, junior Shannon Lipscomb, sophomore Devina Bajaj, sophomore Daniel Ward, freshman Madison Romeo, junior Adrienne Yabut and freshman MaryClaire Kopfer. All nominees hold leadership positions with SUB.
All nominations were approved unanimously without debate.
Senate passed amendment SO2324-28 to Article XVI of the Constitution to clarify the difference between “inactive” and “defunct” clubs in the article. Article XVI uses these terms interchangeably, but they are different classifications within the Student Activities Office (SAO).
Club coordination council president Ava DeCroix explained inactive clubs retain funds while defunct club funds are liquidated and reallocated elsewhere in the SAO budget.
Finally, the Senate moved to pass petitioned resolution P2324-02 to increase the size of paper cups in the dining halls.
“There are so many reasons as to why they removed the cups, and I could not get an official answer,” Dillon Hall senator Sam Godinez said. “The director of student dining Reggie Kalili said it was because they used larger cups during COVID. Student workers said [the change was due to] students stealing food in our paper cups.”
