First Meeting of SGA “Senate X” Includes Nomination Votes and One Resolution

Image Courtesy of Andrea Suarez

By Anthony Curioso

With the strike of her gavel, sophomore biology major and Student Body Vice President Clare Tong ushered in the first meeting of the Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Student Government Association (SGA) Senate on October 7.

Per SGA bylaws, each Senate session begins with public comment, a period wherein students can voice praise or concerns about the items senators are voting on during that night’s meeting. These comments included introductions from junior music education major Anthony Curioso, a former senator and this year’s Tower SGA correspondent, along with members of SGA’s Executive Branch and Treasury Board; support for confirming new appointments to the Treasury Board and Senate; and one student expressing support for Resolution 001, A Resolution to Show Support for a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, the only resolution presented for the night.

Following the swearing-in of all the elected senators, the first item on the senate agenda was confirming the nominations of freshman politics major David Margand to serve as the freshman representative on the SGA Treasury Board and the following individuals to serve in the three senate seats that were vacant as of the SGA orientation session one week previously: senior philosophy major and seminarian Maximus McHugh (representing the School of Philosophy), junior social work major Gabriela Pereira-Ruano (returning to represent the National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS), after having held that seat for part of 2023-24), and junior nursing major Emma Ballard (representing the Conway School of Nursing). In years past, senators have voted unanimously to confirm appointments to SGA positions; the votes to confirm Margand, McHugh, Pereira-Ruano, and Ballard continued this trend. Vice President Tong then swore in all the newly confirmed senators.

Following the confirmation votes and an introductory speech from Vice President Tong, the senate nominated the chairs of its five committees: Rules and Administration, Academic Affairs, University Services, Student Resources, and Campus Life. Five senators were elected as chairs for each committee: sophomore finance major and class of 2027 senator Jack Hermes (Rules and Administration), senior architecture major and School of Architecture and Planning senator Elisabeth D’Albero (Academic Affairs), sophomore politics major and class of 2027 senator Catherine Weatherwax (University Services), junior social work major and NCSSS senator Frances Noory (Student Resources), and junior politics major and class of 2026 senator Bennett Bert (Campus Life.)

Except for the roles of Committee Chairs of Rules and Administration and University Services, which had two nominees each, the senate confirmed all of these nominations unanimously, and there was only one nominee for each committee’s chair.

From there, Senate X began deliberating the first legislation of the school year: Resolution 001, sponsored by junior philosophy major and class of 2026 senator Gabriel Aliaga. 

Aliaga, a Residence Minister with the Office of Campus Ministry in 2023-24, created Resolution 001 to advocate for a perpetual adoration chapel on campus. He said this resolution was justified because our current adoration offerings are far fewer than other colleges and universities on “The Newman Guide,” a resource to help identify Catholic schools that best uphold Catholic identity. Aliaga met with the co-directors of SGA’s Catholic Values Executive Initiative, senior computer science major Luke Bubel and senior nursing major Isabel Reisz, and Father Aquinas Guilbeau, University Chaplain and Vice President of Ministry and Mission, to discuss the logistics of implementing perpetual adoration space. 

Following Senator Aliaga’s opening remarks defending the resolution, Senator Hermes voiced concerns about its language, which Senator D’Albero echoed. Senior politics major and class of 2025 senator Owen Halbrook and Senator Hermes proposed amendments to strengthen the resolution’s language, which passed near-unanimously. Eventually, the senate unanimously passed the amended Resolution 001.

Per a senate tradition, the first meeting finished with updates from Vice President Tong and an “open floor” period for senators to provide updates on legislation they have in the works or decorously voice anything else they wished to. The highlights from the “open floor” included praising SGA efforts to spread information about voting in the upcoming U.S. federal elections; Senators Bert and Hermes advising new senators on the proper function of abstentions in senate votes; the newly-elected committee chairs thanking those who elected them to the chair roles; and Senator Hermes teasing a bill to condense the SGA committees.

Gabriel Aliaga, a junior philosophy major, commented on presenting his first resolution along with the vote result.

“I was very happy to see the support behind the resolution, and I could tell I was advocating for something people truly wanted,” Aliaga said. “As for the amendments, I realize that my peers were not trying to discredit my hard work but rather trying to build on it, and I was glad to see the amended resolution pass unanimously.”The next senate meeting will be on October 28 in the Pryzbyla Center’s Great Room B. In the interim, all are encouraged to check for updates on Resolution 001, the senate legislation for the remainder of the school year, and the list of items to be voted on by the senate at subsequent meetings on the SGA Instagram account.