SGA Passes Two Resolutions and One Bill at First Senate Meeting
Image Courtesy of The Catholic University of America
By Margaret Adams and Chanel Cole
The Catholic University of America Student Government Association hosted its first meeting of the 2022-23 academic year on Monday, October 3; SGA Vice President Maevis Fahey presided over the meeting.
Senate Meeting 8-01 addressed a Treasury Board nominee, three resolutions, and a bill.
The proceedings started with a welcome, roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance, and prayer; the floor opened for public comment.
The Executive Cabinet, Treasury Board, Research Committee, Directors and members of the Executive Initiatives and Title IX Task Force all introduced themselves during public comment, as well as the President of Graduate Student Association, Sarah Dunford.
Additionally, President of the Executive Board, Tony Crnkovich, introduced himself and reminded everyone about the Town Hall with President Kilpatrick on October 24, as well as Meet Your SGA Day on November 2.
VP Fahey next conducted Senate initiations. She also introduced the Senate’s parliamentarian, senior politics and media and communications double major, Johnathan Norman, and co-secretaries, freshmen Natalie Zentz and Gary Vanpelt.
Fahey delivered the Vice-Presidential Address, discussing the role of the senate on Catholic University’s campus, and the duty of the senators to “uplift the welcoming spirit” of the school. She asked the senate how they will be a welcoming presence on campus, and how best to serve their university community, and ended by inviting the senate to be open-minded to peers and each other.
VP Fahey then shifted the proceedings to a vote to confirm Matthew Blomgren, which he was elected to unanimously.
VP Fahey commenced the committee chair nomination process. The first committee up for chair nominations was the Rules and Administration Committee; Class of ‘24 Senator Michels nominated Class of ‘24 Senator Besendorfer, citing her experience and passion; and she was elected unanimously. VP Fahey introduced the nomination for chair of Academic Affairs next, and Class of ‘25 Senator Martin nominated Arts and Sciences Senator Gerhig, who was elected unanimously.
During nominations for the University Services Committee, Senator Besendorfer nominated Senator Martin, class of ‘23 Senator Drauschak nominated Senator Michels for the Student Resources Committee nomination, and Senator Michels nominated Senator Draushack to the Campus Life Committee. Every senator nominated was unopposed, and elected chair to their committee with unanimous votes.
Before VP Fahey proceeded to the presentation of the resolutions, she introduced a new timing system in order to enforce and ensure that the senate stays on task and on time, as the senate meetings are notorious for going over time. A 20-minute countdown timer will start when the Vice President starts to read the resolution or bill, and any senator can ask for a motion to vote to extend the time of the debate. Senators can also ask for a motion to vote to extend the meeting if they are nearing the end and need to continue debating.
After explaining the new timing system, VP Fahey introduced Resolution 001, sponsored by Senator Martin and co-sponsored by Senator Besendorfer and Senator Suarez. The resolution called to extend mailroom hours. Senator Martin cited the long lines and hours of wait that on-campus students experience every year. She hopes to extend the hours of the mailroom on Monday to Thursday from 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m., Friday from 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., and Saturday from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Senator Martin also mentioned that Ronnie Howard, who runs the mailroom, cannot allow time changes for this term, but could be worked out for next term. VP Fahey opened the floor to debate.
Senator Bommer voiced his support, and asked why they chose to include Saturday as a mailroom workday; Senator Martin replied that the extra day would give students more time to pick up packages. Senator Besendorfer also brought up the issue of package security: many people’s necessary packages either get lost or sent back to the distribution center because the mailroom is closed on Saturday, causing a huge influx of packages on Monday.
Senator D’Attelo asked for clarification on how the resolution will affect the issue of packages being sent away. Besendorfer asked to amend the specific clause for having the university designate a drop-off location for packages delivered on Saturday.
Senator Kish then asked about the third section of the clause, which addresses correctly updating the website about the mailroom time, and how quickly can that happen. Senator Martin responded that updating the website to reflect the true mailroom times can happen automatically and that the wrong times on the website could be attributed to miscommunication between the mailroom and the school.
National Catholic School of Social Work senator Michael McCarthy asked if the mailroom workers are aware of this resolution and how the pay would be adjusted appropriately. Senator Martin explained that Mr. Howard said he would let the workers know about the resolution, and that the school could probably work the extra costs into the budget.
National Catholic School of Social Work senator Ash Samuels asked for further clarification on how the mailroom workers’ pay. Senator Martin said that she thinks the mailroom workers are paid by the hour. School of Arts and Sciences senator Kruger expressed support to wrap up the debate portion.
After voting, Resolution 001 passed with 25 yays, 0 nays and 0 abstentions.
VP Fahey then proceeded with Resolution 002, co-sponsored by Senator Besendorfor and Senator Martin concerning the ongoing issue of closed walkways as a result of the construction of the Conway School of Nursing. The construction has caused inconveniences to students and faculty traveling to classes and may cause safety concerns, Besendorfor said. Some students are choosing convenience over safety; instead of taking the rerouted paths they are bypassing the red tape and walking through the construction site. The danger in this is obvious: students could get hurt walking through the construction, and this could have consequences for both the construction company and the university. The resolution proposed that alternative walkways should be constructed for the safety and convenience of all members of the University.
Senator Drauschak asked about the basic logistics of the implementation: who SGA would contact to handle this issue and how long would it take for the resolution to come into effect.
Senator Curioso expressed gratitude for bringing awareness to the issue, as he has personal experience and can sympathize with other students who have disabilities and have to deal with the inconveniences. He asked for an amendment to the resolution, adding him as a co-sponsor. VP Fahey skipped the motion to vote on the amendment and the senators unanimously agreed to add Curioso.
Senator Musick also raised questions about the implementation of improved sidewalks. In particular, Musick asked if the sidewalk is an issue to be brought to the attention of the University or D.C. city officials. Senator Besendorfor said that it would most likely be within the University’s jurisdiction. Senator Bommer proposed a motion to remove a period from a resolution and it passed. Senator Zayaz asked about the accessibility of the suggested sidewalk.
Senator Ewing was curious as to why a resolution for new sidewalks did not pass last year. Senator Besendorfor remarked that the resolution was actually proposed and passed, but since that resolution, the construction has become more expansive than last year and therefore requires a new resolution.
Senator Samuels asked the two co-sponsors of the resolution whom the policy idea would be brought up. VP Fahey interjected saying that once the resolution is passed, it will move into the hands of the executive who will handle the advocacy part of the implementation. VP Fahey also commented that not every resolution required a meeting.
Senator D’Attelo attested to the fact that liability would primarily fall on the construction company if a student or community member were to get injured. He concurred with Senator’s Besendorfer sightings of students walking in the construction site to get where they need to be.
Resolution 001 passed with 25 yays, 0 nays and 0 abstentions.
The Senate moved on to Resolution 003, which advocates for the availability of pornography addiction resources for students.
The resolution was proposed by Senator Suarez and co-sponsored by Senators Tamayo and Curioso. Suarez said that despite the blocking of the top 200 pornographic websites on the school Wi-Fi, students still find ways to access illicit materials. This resolution seeks to address addiction by training student leaders to help affected students. This could manifest through conferences, seminars, events, or guest speakers. Through this resolution, Suarez hopes to alleviate some of the stigmatization surrounding this topic and help students.
Supporting the proposal, Curioso asserted the importance of such a program to the mental and spiritual health of all students, and Senator Tamayo agreed.
The resolution then went to the floor for debate. Senator Bommer thanked Suarez and her co-sponsors for bringing this resolution to the Senate as it was a pressing issue that affects students. He brought up a question about the terminology of the resolution and wanted to know whether counseling services and the Dean of Students had been made aware of the proposal.
Senator Suarez said that discussing the proposal with counseling services or the Dean of Students was unfeasible at that moment.
Senator Besendorfer asked if Suarez had contacted the Campus Ministry yet about the budget, who would be trained as student leaders for the program, and if faculty were in full support of the program. Senator Suarez responded that she did not speak to Campus Ministry yet and would want CUA faculty on board with the support program.
Senator Michels praised Suarez for her great work on proposing the resolution but expressed his concerns about its strengths and recommended that the resolution be sent back to committee so that it could be properly fleshed out.
A debate ensued on whether a motion should be called to vote. Senator Besendorfer clarified to all the new senators what would happen if the resolution was taken back to a committee: it didn’t mean that the resolution was killed, but rather it would be made stronger and clearer so that when it goes back on the floor for debate, there is less ambiguity.
Before the final vote on Suarez’s resolution, Senator McCarthy and Senator Kish made comments. Senator McCarthy affirmed the notion that the resolution should be brought to committee because it does not address the underlying shame of sharing that one has a pornography addiction. He believes that with such a sensitive topic, anonymity is important. Senator Kish thanked Senator Suarez for bringing the resolution up but concurred that it should go back to committee to improve.
With that, VP Fahey passes the motion to vote on whether the resolution should be sent back to committee.
The resolution passed with 16 yays, 4 nays, and 6 abstaining.
The final item on the Senate’s docket was Bill 003 which advocates for the publicizing of the attendance and voting records of all senators be reflected in the minutes.
Sponsor of the bill Senator Michels believes that the bill will foster an environment of transparency and impose more accountability on all Senators. In effect, this will push everyone to better represent their constituents. The co-sponsors of this bill were Senator Martin, Senator Besendorfer, and Senator Gerhig.
As a previous secretary of the Senate, Gerhig shared her experience of being constantly asked by her peers how certain senators voted on different resolutions and bills. She figured that it would make more sense to have those records publicly available.
Senator Martin also expressed her full support for the bill and shared similar experiences that Senator Gerhig had of friends and peers asking her about voting records. With this bill, Martin believed that more people would pay attention to the actions of the Senate.
Debate was opened on the floor and Senator Samuels stood up to share their views. Samuels reminded the Senate that they are not actual politicians and that the Senators do not have the same power as elected officials. He stated that controversial resolutions have come to the floor in the past and based on the way one voted, they could be prone to cyberbullying or threats. Samuels also asserted that if someone was in danger of getting hurt, there were no bodyguards that would protect them. Because of this, he was worried that if the bill was passed, senators would not vote on their conscience and succumb to external pressures.
A motion was then passed to extend the meeting until 10:30 pm and it was passed.
Senator Besendorfer responded that even though SGA senators are not real politicians, they still have a strong suggestive power that has caused many positive changes on campus. Besendorfer also mentioned that during the pandemic, SGA meetings were over zoom and were recorded and published for the entire school community to view.
These statements were confirmed by former Student Body Treasurer, Senator Bommer. He reminded everyone that all Senate meetings are open to the public, even treasury meetings, except to discuss private financial records of the university that cannot be disclosed to the public.
Senator Martin returned to Senator Samuel’s point concerning controversial resolutions. Martin believes that there are benefits to having controversial topics brought up in the Senate because it opens lively debate that can challenge the thinking of senators and make progress on finding solutions.
Senator Downing said that transparency has always been a hot topic. Downing also mentioned that senate meetings have always been open to the public, so therefore, it only makes sense that the records are available online too.
Senator Musick proposed a compromise: those who want to see voting records could send a request via email. VP Fahey interjected that senators should talk about resolutions prior to the biweekly meetings so that these ideas can be recognized beforehand. Senator Michels said that the compromise would not address the issue at hand and would be an inconvenience for whoever is delegating the job of sending voting records to curious constituents. Their emails would be flooded with requests, and it would be a frustrating process to answer those emails.
The bill passed with 19 yays, 7 nays, 1 abstention.
VP Fahey then gave updates: she described the first day of senate tabling on Monday and reminded everyone of the Town Hall with Kilpatrick and Meet Your SGA Day. She also urged everyone to attend Treasury Board meetings on Tuesday nights, explaining that it was crucial for senators to interact with other branches of SGA.
She then proceeded with Open Court. Senator Besendorfor announced that she was working on legislation expanding parking for students and events, finding a spot for Women’s Hour, and reminded the Senate about the purpose of abstaining, saying that there were more abstentions in this meeting than there was all last year.
Senator Martin announced that she is working on legislation to have shared pots and pans accessible in all community kitchens. Senator Curioso announced that he was almost finished with exhaustive accessibility reform and called for the senate to sing “Happy Birthday” to Senator Martin. Senator Kish announced that he was working on his Clean Ventilation Act, as there have been reports of black mold in many dorm rooms.
