By Adam Harrison Asst. News Editor The Student Government Association discussed student concerns and Menorah Club’s funding request on Sept. 17. Vice President Cesar Matos looked to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and yielded the floor to open forum. Senior Raena Doty, a sitting member on the General Education Advisory Board Committee, said they are discussing the implementation of an overlay for a potential diversity requirement. “We really want student voices on defining what this diversity requirement will mean,” she said. Doty said the committee is trying to require every student to have a formalized learning environment for diversity. She said if any student has “a vested interest in that, I am definitely a person to talk to about that.” Senior Tony Sims said the paved area between Horace Mann Hall and May Hall is unsafe for students due to cars speeding and no way for students to cross. It presents “significant risk” because of “people speeding through there, which could lead to unfortunate accidents,” he said. Sims said he would be interested in the possibility of installing a speed bump in the area, or creating a crosswalk. Senator Raffi Elkhoury said he emailed Dan Giard, director of facilities operations, Office of Facilities & Capital Planning, and that will “provide an update at our next meeting regarding what he says.” A crosswalk was painted in the area by Facilities at around noon on Wednesday, Sept.18. President Evelyn Campbell discussed expectations for officers and senators, as well as SGA as a whole, and said, “The main purpose of us is to advocate for student voices and bridge gaps between the administration and the student body to better the life here for everyone.” Matos said his responsibility as vice president is to oversee the student affairs committee meeting (SAC), and oversee the clubs and organizations on campus. Jeremy McDonald, student trustee, said his role is to “come to student government, bring the voices that you all have to the Board of Trustees and to represent them and their voices back to student government.” Aimee Takouda, treasurer, said her responsibility is to go over club funding requests. “If they [student organization] come up short of the money they need, like getting events funded, they come to us,” she said. Liv West, outreach and events coordinator, said she plans events, makes flyers, and works on social media. West said she runs an outreach and events committee meeting 10:30-11:15 on Wednesdays. “If you have any good ideas and want to see specific things on campus, you should really join,” she said. Matos said the secretary and diversity and inclusion officer positions are still unfilled. Advisor Meghan Larkin said the Menorah Club requested $999 dollars for the construction of a Sukkah that will stand during the holiday of Sukkot. The Sukkah is a temporary shelter “that Jews build and use during the Jewish festival of Sukkot. They are symbolic shelters that the Israelis lived in while wandering the desert after leaving Egypt,” she said. Larkin said the club will have four separate events using the Sukkah. The events are building the Sukkah, holding a group luncheon, a joint-club event, and deconstructing it. Elkhoury said SGA has voted against funding the Christian Fellowship’s request for prayer cards because they were not open and accessible to all students. “I’m pretty sure that that’s the precedent SGA has on this issue … because I don’t think we should approve this event if we didn’t approve that one,” he said. Jeremy McDonald said he spoke with Ann McDonald, executive staff, office of chief of staff and general counsel, and secretary to the Board of Trustees, as well as President Nancy Niemi, and “brought up this issue. They both were of the opinion that open and accessible - especially with Ann’s legal background - would apply to an event like this.” This includes how they allow every student to attend the events “despite the fact that not all would practice Judaism, or have necessarily [an understanding of] the significance of the structure,” he said. Sims said SGA should give this request consideration “if there’s a legitimate demand for this, so long as they agree to be open to everyone, regardless of religion, non-religion, and anything else.” Elkhoury said, “My bigger concern is that you don’t want to approve one religious event, and then not approve another. So I don’t want to approve a religious event, and then come the end of the semester, we’re out of money.” McDonald said the responsibility is on the finance committee to determine how much money to give out. Takouda said the finance committee will ask the representatives questions regarding the event, and determine if they should receive their funding. “We have numerous questions, like, ‘How do you make your event accessible to the campus?’ ‘Who’s going to be there?’ ‘How many people do you estimate will be there?’” she said. Sims suggested SGA offer Menorah Club the means to fundraise if they don’t approve their funding request. Matos said he has looked for what other schools have done in regards to funding religious or religiously affiliated groups. He said, “Oftentimes, it doesn’t seem like they do fund them, but instead rely on the club’s means to fundraise for themselves.” “When it comes to that being practical in terms of allowing the club to take on events and coordinate gatherings together, I feel like being able to have funds is an important part of any organization or club,” Matos said. Student Anna Julia Riberio said although the event would be accessible and open to everyone, not as many would attend because the religious tradition doesn’t apply to them. “The religious clubs are open for everyone, but even so, there are separate groups because not everyone who goes here has the same religion,” she said. Student Alix Ayoup said the estimated number of students attending the event should be factored in the decision. “I think the amount of inclusion from people both outside and inside the club should be considered,” she said. Sims said SGA should treat all clubs the same, and they shouldn’t have different standards for religious and nonreligious clubs. “I think that could be misconstrued as something that we really don’t want to be construed as,” he said. Elkhoury said, “I think we should treat all clubs the same.” He said this club was formed at the end of Spring 2024 semester, and this is their first event. “So if they’ve never even put on an event before, we should all consider whether we feel comfortable giving them $1,000 for an event that might get zero attendance,” he said. [ Editor’s Note: Raena Doty is an Arts & Features Editor for The Gatepost. ]
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