Tensions High as SGA Senate Considers Five Resolutions
Image Courtesy of SGA
By Anthony Curioso
The SGA Senate’s second meeting of the Spring 2025 semester proved to be a record-breaking one in both number of resolutions and length. Held on February 17 at 8:15 p.m. in the Pryzbyla Center, this meeting saw Senators debate five resolutions, the highest number of legislative items presented at a meeting since December 2023. Little did the senators and audience members know, however, that this meeting’s length would break Senate VII’s record set in December 2021, when senators debated replacing the infamous painting stolen from the Law School.
The senators’ first order of business was to listen to addresses from and pose questions to University President Peter Kilpatrick and Provost Aaron Dominguez. Kilpatrick and Dominguez aimed to alleviate student concerns and answer questions about the organizational changes the University is making due to its budget deficit. Kilpatrick’s address detailed the rationale behind merging the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs departments, with the main reason being concerns with Residence Life. Dominguez spoke about the mergers of academic departments, justifying these by explaining that these restructuring measures will help to serve students by merging departments that appear to be doing similar work.
Highlights from the public comment portion of the meeting included many students, including several former senators, voicing their opposition to Resolution 011 (A Resolution of Disapproval for Treasury Board Over-Allocations). The Resolution would have expressed the Senate’s disapproval of the allocations given by the Treasury Board to the CUA chapters of Global Medical Brigades and Habitat for Humanity. Students who spoke against Resolution 011 during public comment believed the Resolution goes against Catholic Church teaching on charity due to its impact on these two service-based organizations and that the sponsors drafted the Resolution based on many misconceptions about the mission and scope of the impacted organizations and the process of funding allocation.
Several students who commented on this matter also called for Resolution 011’s sponsoring senator, sophomore finance and theology major and class of 2027 senator Jack Hermes, to resign from the position of president pro tempore and chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration because of his actions in drafting and promoting this Resolution.
Several students supported Resolution 011 during the public comment session, including one advocate, sophomore politics major Owen Lee, who called for the resignation of sophomore biomedical engineering major and Student Body Vice President Clare Tong. Lee called for Tong’s resignation because he wanted Hermes, who serves as president pro tempore, to run the rest of the meeting.
Other students who spoke during the public comment period praised Resolution 014 (A Resolution to Install Cameras in Dorm Laundry Rooms). In proposing Resolution 014, sophomore politics major and class of 2027 senator Catherine Weatherwax hoped to promote student safety by deterring students from stealing items from residence hall laundry rooms. Weatherwax defended the resolution by explaining that funding already exists to implement this proposal if it passes. The Senate voted to pass this resolution unanimously.
Senior politics major and Student Body President Jeffrey Lance concluded public comment by providing updates about SGA administrative matters.
In defense of Resolution 010 (A Resolution Supporting the Creation of DPS Social Media), its sponsoring senator, freshman politics major Nicolas Albarano (Class of 2028), justified this resolution based on a conversation with Kirk McLean, the Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management. Praise for this resolution came from freshman politics major and class of 2028 senator Kevin McNicholas as well as junior business and philosophy major and class of 2026 senator Michael Kish; criticism came from senior architecture major and Architecture School senator Elisabeth D’Albero because of her concern that DPS is already very slow and unclear in their communication with the student body, making her doubt their ability and willingness to update a social media feed frequently. The Senate voted by a margin of 24-1 to pass this resolution.
In addition to those who spoke in public comment, many students made posts on Instagram and Fizz over the twenty-four hours leading up to the Senate meeting to voice their opinions on Resolution 011 (A Resolution of Disapproval for Treasury Board Over-Allocations). Hermes, the resolution’s sponsor, defended it by stressing that the Student Activity Fee should be distributed equitably to fund events for all students. He argued that current allocations (including those received by the Program Board and the CUA chapters of Global Medical Brigades and Habitat for Humanity) violate the SGA Treasury Board bylaws regarding the distribution of the Student Activity Fee.
Resolution 011’s co-sponsoring senators, sophomore theology major and School of Theology senator Joshua Ortiz, as well as sophomore business major and Busch School of Business senator Gianluca Albanese, also defended Resolution 011 by claiming that the points raised during public comment spread several misconceptions about the resolution’s true intent. These senators also shared several disheartening messages and personal attacks they received because they supported this resolution. After a lengthy debate, the Senate voted to strike down Resolution 011 by a margin of 16-6, with three Senators abstaining. The vote on Resolution 011 was the first time the Senate had voted to strike down legislation since the aforementioned December 2023 meeting.
Resolution 012 (A Resolution to Support the Establishment of a Student Advisory Committee for the Reorganization of Academic Programs) was a revised version of the resolution referred to the Senate Committee on Academic Affairs at the last Senate meeting three weeks previously. Hermes, also sponsoring this resolution, defended the revised version by stressing the importance of student voices expressing their concerns to the University administration. This resolution received praise from junior vocal performance major and Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art senator Jason DeSilva Jr. and senior politics major and class of 2025 senator Owen Halbrook; it received criticism from junior politics major and class of 2026 senator Bennett Bert and sophomore business major and Busch School Senator Matthew Moskowski. Ultimately, the Senate passed Resolution 012 by a margin of 23-2, with the two votes against coming from both Class of 2026 senators.
For Resolution 013, A Resolution to Implement Uniformity Regarding Textbooks, the main argument from the sponsor (Ortiz) stemmed from the fact that many students have had to buy the same book multiple times in varying translations. The Senate passed this resolution by a vote of 24-1.
At the meeting’s conclusion, Tong provided updates that included a reminder for the upcoming committee meeting, an announcement of a scheduling change for the next full Senate meeting, an encouragement to participate in Treasury Board meetings, and an urging to come forward with questions for the SGA executive board and the University administration (which very few Senators took the initiative to do before the February 17 Senate meeting).
Highlights from the open floor period at the February 17 meeting included sponsors of successful resolutions thanking those who voted in favor; Albanese thanking the senators and Vice President Tong for their commitment this evening; Kish, sophomore philosophy major and School of Philosophy senator David Norcross, and a few other senators reiterating calls for Hermes’ resignation from his committee chair position; and multiple senators reminding the rest of the importance of diplomacy and decorum within the Senate body and the significance of their oath of office.
The next Senate meeting will be held on March 3 at 8:15 p.m. in Great Room B at the Pryzbyla Center.
