SGA Senate Considers Election Reform and Campus Building Address Clarifications at Rare Special Session
Image Courtesy of @catholicsga via Instagram
By Anthony Curioso
The tenth Student Government Association (SGA) Senate cohort has already made history twice this year, with one meeting lasting over four hours and the unprecedented consideration of two administrative procedures at another meeting. However, on April 14 at 8:15 p.m., the Senate implemented a procedure for the first time in its history: convening a special session to supplement the original meeting schedule and consider additional legislation. This special session occurred in the Nest space at the Pryzbyla Center, which departed from the previous practice of holding Senate meetings in Great Room B at the Pryz.
To convene a special session, Senate Bylaws require either a decision from the Senate President (Clare Tong, a sophomore biomedical engineering major and Student Body Vice President) or an email petition from a majority of current Senators with at least 48 hours’ notice to Tong, reflecting each senator’s response. During the open floor period at the regularly scheduled senate meeting on March 31, senior politics major and class of 2025 Senator Owen Halbrook suggested that there was a strong possibility the senate would need to convene for this session. Ultimately, Halbrook’s prediction proved to be correct.
Highlights from the public comment portion of the special session included senior politics major and student body president Jeffrey Lance announcing that the inauguration of the next SGA executive board will happen on May 1 at 6 p.m. in Caldwell Auditorium.
The first order of business was to confirm the nomination of Faustina Bernardy, a freshman politics major, to fill the vacant senate seat representing the Class of 2028. Until this point, Bernardy had served as one of the senate secretaries, responsible for recording the minutes of each meeting. Although it has been common practice for the SGA Treasury Board secretaries to receive nominations partway through the year to become Treasury Board directors, no available information suggests that a senate secretary has ever been appointed to fill a vacant senate seat. As is typical for confirmation votes, the senate unanimously confirmed Bernardy’s nomination.
After Bernardy’s confirmation, the senate voted unanimously to amend the minutes from the last meeting to better reflect the specific motions made by senators during that session (regardless of whether the senate entertained these motions) and approve the minutes as amended.
The deliberation for Bill 004 (A Bill for Election Integrity and Ballot Security) began amid controversy over a proposed amendment to the bill, which Tong refused to entertain. Due to concerns about the current SGA election system, the sponsor introduced this legislation to ensure integrity in the election process. The bill would establish additional impartial oversight from the Office of Campus Activities (OCA) over SGA elections. Junior business and philosophy major, class of 2026 Senator, and Student Body President-elect Michael Kish supported the bill, as did Richard Harrington, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering and a senator from the School of Engineering. Several senators raised clarifying questions about the bill’s scope, which the sponsor addressed swiftly. Ultimately, the vote on this bill resulted in unanimous approval for its passage.
Resolution 024 (A Resolution to Promulgate On-Campus Addresses) featured Elisabeth D’Albero, a senior architecture major and senator for the School of Architecture and Planning, as its sponsor. D’Albero contended that this resolution was essential because several buildings on campus are either mislabeled on Google Maps or not labeled at all. She also noted that various entities, such as renters’ insurance and food delivery services, require a specific address for those who wish to access these services. Ultimately, the Senators voted by a unanimous margin to pass Resolution 024.
At the end of the special session, Tong provided updates on forthcoming Treasury Board bylaw changes, her rationale for blocking a constitutional amendment, and the date of the final senate meeting of the semester.
Highlights from the open floor period at the end of the session included several senators congratulating those who passed legislation, ongoing criticism of the persistent infighting and perceived disrespect among the senators this year, reflection from Kish on the Passion of Christ as we begin Holy Week, and Bernardy expressing gratitude to the other Senators for confirming her nomination.
The next and final senate meeting of the school year will be on April 28 at 8:15 pm, returning to Great Room B at the Pryzbyla Center.
