SGA Senate’s Penultimate Meeting Features Resolutions on the Kane, Student Workers, and Ben & Jerry’s

Image Courtesy of SGA

By Anthony Curioso

As a significant thunderstorm raged outside, the Student Government Association (SGA) Senate convened for its penultimate meeting of 2024-25 on March 31 in Great Room B at the Pryzbyla Center.

Highlights from the public comment period at the March 31 meeting included senior politics major and Student Body President Jeffrey Lance providing administrative updates about SGA events, including a blood drive in partnership with the Student Nurses’ Association.

Other topics from the public comment period included two students expressing praise for Resolution 020 (A Resolution to Consolidate Student Work Opportunities). 

At the beginning of the meeting, there was controversy regarding the exclusion of legislation from the Committee on Rules and Administration, the committee in charge of updating and enforcing SGA bylaws. Due to the exclusion, some Senators considered not adopting the meeting agenda. If the Senators had not adopted the agenda, the Senate session would have had to adjourn immediately, and the Senate could not have considered the resolutions that were on the agenda. Ultimately, this did not happen, and the meeting continued as planned.

In defense of Resolution 019 (A Resolution to Remove COVID-19 Barriers and Signage from Campus), Bennett Bert, a junior politics major and class of 2026 senator, argued that even though COVID-19 has mostly dissipated, signs giving COVID-19 information are everywhere on campus. Ultimately, the Senate voted unanimously to pass Resolution 019.

Junior business and philosophy double major and class of 2026 Senator Michael Kish defended Resolution 020 (A Resolution to Consolidate Student Work Opportunities) by arguing that work is an inherent part of human nature and that there is currently no centralized resource for accessing information on student job opportunities. Sophomore business major and Busch School Senator Gianluca Albanese supported the resolution as did senior architecture major and School of Architecture Senator Elisabeth D’Albero. Ultimately, the Senate vote resulted in a unanimous decision, leading to the resolution’s passage. 

The next item was Resolution 021 (A Resolution to Uphold Catholic Teaching Regarding Abortion), sponsored by Joshua Ortiz, a sophomore theology major and senator for the School of Theology and Religious Studies. Ortiz defended Resolution 021 by arguing that the University’s sale of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in the Pryzbyla Center’s “Market” convenience store contradicts Catholic teaching because of Ben and Jerry’s outspoken support for abortion. This resolution appeared to draw inspiration from a similar resolution from Senate IX, which called for replacing the Pryzbyla Center Starbucks with another alternative for similar reasons.

Resolution 021 received praise from Jason Desilva Jr., a junior vocal performance major and senator of the Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art, and Maximus McHugh, a senior philosophy major and senator in the School of Philosophy. It faced criticism from D’Albero, who noted that Ben and Jerry’s provides superior dairy-free options for lactose-intolerant students and those with dairy allergies when compared with other ice cream brands; she also questioned Ortiz’s position on the many other companies with which the University sustains active relationships, who also support abortion. 

Critiques also came from Albanese, who had previously opposed the Starbucks resolution during public comments in Senate IX when it was debated, and David Norcross, a sophomore philosophy major and senator in the School of Philosophy. Both Albanese and Norcross expressed concern that this resolution would meet a similar fate as the Starbucks resolution in that the University administration would decline to implement it. Some senators raised a motion to refer Resolution 021 to the Committee on Campus Life to correct perceived issues with the Resolution. The Senators voted to adopt this motion and send Resolution 021 to the Campus Life Committee by a margin of 15-8.

Resolution 022 (A Resolution to Support a Student Suggestion Form for Implementing Specific Foods in Garvey Hall) was sponsored by Luc Vanraes, a freshman architecture major and School of Architecture and Planning senator. Vanraes defended Resolution 022, which was co-sponsored by half of the other Senators at the meeting, by arguing that a feedback form exists but that the University does not adequately promote the form. The unanimous vote on Resolution 022 resulted in its passage.

In defense of Resolution 023 (A Resolution to Add Equipment to the Kane Fitness Center), the sponsoring senator argued that this Resolution implements feedback from many respondents to a student poll asking which equipment they would like to see in the Kane Fitness Center. The vote on Resolution 023 resulted in a unanimous margin for the resolution to pass.

Updates from sophomore biomedical engineering major and Student Body Vice President Clare Tong included a reminder of the next committee meetings and the remaining events on the calendar, an appeal to Senators to come forward with questions, and a reminder to Senators of the importance of working collaboratively. 

Highlights from the open floor period to conclude the meeting included senior politics major and class of 2025 senator Owen Halbrook hinting at the possibility of a special Senate session on April 14 to address more legislation, the sponsors of successful legislation thanking those who voted in favor, and a request from Emma Wallace, a junior biomedical engineering major and School of Engineering Senator, for greater communication among Senators about the legislation they are proposing.

Unless the SGA executive board and Senate enact Halbrook’s proposal for a special Senate session, the final Senate meeting of the school year will be held on April 28. The session will occur again in Great Room B at the Pryzbyla Center.