Two Resolutions and First Bill Highlight Second SGA Senate Meeting

Image Courtesy of SGA

By Anthony Curioso

After the Student Government Association (SGA) Senate X’s first meeting three weeks previously, which contained some controversy surrounding committee chair appointments, some may have shown up to the second meeting on October 28 in the Pryzbyla Center Great Room B wondering if it would come with more or less controversy than its predecessor. 

Highlights from the public comment period that began the second Senate meeting included senior politics major and Student Body President Jeffrey Lance updating the student body on recent developments in advocacy for the Metro UPass program and concerns the student body voiced about Dining Services. Public comment highlights also included two students, both of whom are former Senators, voicing praises for Resolution 002 (A Resolution to Increase Accessibility in St. Vincent de Paul Chapel)  and Resolution 003 (A Resolution Addressing Garvey Hall Concerns).

After the typical opening procedures, the first item of business for Senators at the October 28 meeting was listening to an address from and posing questions for Dr. Lynn Mayer, Vice Provost for Teaching and Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

Dean Mayer discussed the tracking program within Cardinal Students, which helps students manage the requirements of their major, minor, and CUA’s liberal arts curriculum. She answered questions about the program’s impact on double-majors and dual-degree students. Dean Mayer also mentioned that the Academic Senate is creating clearer definitions for “major,” “minor,” “primary major,” and “secondary major” to reduce confusion across all academic schools.

After Dean Mayer’s address, the Senate dispensed with updates from the five Senate Committee Chairs. Once the Senate has approved the October 28 meeting minutes for publication, which will take place at the beginning of the next meeting, please visit the SGA section of the CUA website for a comprehensive summary of each committee’s updates. 

Following these committee updates, it was time to proceed with deliberating and voting on the night’s legislation. 

In defense of Bill 001 (A Bill to Update Senate Committee Composition), sponsoring senator Jack Hermes, a sophomore business administration major representing the class of 2027, said the legislation was needed because the Senate’s current makeup has led to many unintentional breaches of the specific bylaws that this bill sought to amend. 

Following Senator Hermes’s opening remarks and remarks from co-sponsoring senator Elisabeth D’Albero, a senior architecture major representing the School of Architecture and Planning, class of 2026 Senator Gabriel Aliaga, a junior philosophy major, voiced a parliamentary inquiry about the precise language of the proposed amendments, which junior computer science major and Senate Parliamentarian Allison Ewing was able to provide an answer to. The Senate voted unanimously to pass Bill 001.

For Resolution 002, sponsored by Senator Bert, the given justification was removing an accessibility barrier. The sponsoring senator met with Father Bernard Knapke, Chaplain for Worship in Campus Ministry, and Father Aquinas Guilbeau, University Chaplain and Vice President of Ministry and Mission. This resolution was co-sponsored by junior social work major and NCSSS senator Frances Noory as well as sophomore theology major and School of Theology Senator Joshua Ortiz, who both hailed this resolution as a great way to further the University’s effort to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Several senators voiced logistical concerns about varying aspects of the resolution, from security to how to ensure appropriate access for those who needed it.  The Senate also passed this resolution unanimously.

Sophomore theology major and School of Theology Senator Joshua Ortiz then presented Resolution 003, which aimed to restore students’ ability to swipe guests into Garvey Hall and more prominently display nutritional information such as calorie and carbohydrate counts for Garvey Hall menu items. Two of the resolution co-sponsors, Senator Hermes and sophomore politics major and class of 2027 Senator Catherine Weatherwax, lauded this resolution because it allowed students to save time and money and ensure they could get food between classes.

Several senators voiced logistical and linguistic concerns about this resolution, to which the sponsoring senators responded that the Garvey Hall situation was too urgent to wait another three weeks to advocate for. Senator Bert proposed a substantial amendment to alleviate these linguistic concerns, which the senators adopted unanimously. The vote for Resolution 003 in its entirety resulted in the resolution’s unanimous passage.

Updates from sophomore biology major and Student Body Vice President Clare Tong followed the legislative deliberations; of particular note were her reminders to Senators on the importance of following specific Senate procedures and seeking clarifications on these procedures if necessary, as well as her reminder of why everyone in SGA is serving in their respective positions. 

During the open floor period to conclude the meeting, several Senators voiced concerns about the SGA culture and condemned alleged anonymous threats against some Senators. Senator Hermes reminded Senators of the importance of addressing SGA members by their proper titles. Senator Coleman expressed his gratitude for the passage of each legislative item and the effort put in by Parliamentarian Ewing. 

Joshua Ortiz, a sophomore theology major and Senator for the School of Theology and Religious Studies, commented on his rationale for the scope of his resolution requests for Garvey Hall and his feelings on presenting the resolution.

“I felt that addressing both Garvey Hall concerns in the same resolution would be best in the interest of efficiency,” Senator Ortiz said. “Presenting one resolution, regardless of how clunky [sic] the language is, would be much better to address multiple concerns on the same topic while saving time and effort.”

Junior politics major and class of 2026 Senator Bennett Bert commented on the process behind determining the most prudent points for the SGA executive board to advocate for when proposing Resolution 002.

“Campus Ministry felt that Resolution 002 would be a great first step toward the eventual goal of providing greater access to all of our chapels,” Bert said.

The next SGA Senate meeting will be on Monday, November 18, in Great Room B at the Pryzbyla Center. Check the SGA Instagram page for updates on the bill and resolutions from the October 28 meeting or other SGA events.