1/29/26 and 2/5/26 SGA Columns

1/29

• We welcomed everyone back from winter break, and welcomed our new Chair of Finance Sa’ada Maliha Umaima, ’28, as well as our previous Presidential Associate, Tenzin Choedak, ’27, into his new role as Vice President. We also have a new Presidential Associate– Sam Bailey, ‘27.
• A senator asked a question about who to call for snow removal- if snow is blocking your doors, you can call Campus Safety. If there are any icy or snowy areas that concern you, please take a picture, note the specific location, and submit a work order. Please also take note of the work order number, send it to Residential Life, and say it’s a hazardous condition- it will get taken care of! Please do this to prevent injuries and keep everyone safe.
• Related to the above, a senator asked if the salt used on the sidewalks and roads are safe for service animals, and we are looking into it.
• From the Academic Administrative Procedural Committee (AAPC)– if your professor tried to hold virtual classes on a snow day, they are not allowed to do that. Whenever the campus is closed, classes cannot be held, even if they are virtual.
• We voted to reinstate Honor Council member Valentin Gonzalez ’28, as he resigned due to a scheduling conflict, but requested to be reinstated.
• Our Chair of DEI from last semester, Aleks Eikinas ’26, has stepped down from their role. Please read their resignation notice in your email.
• SGA’s Sustainable Projects Fund still has money left- if you have any ideas and plans for sustainable projects to help the campus, please apply!
• The Housing Lottery booklet was slightly delayed this year, as with Manwaring and off-campus housing being removed as an option, ResLife has still been working to reevaluate the number of rooms available, and where some staff will be living. In the Housing Lottery– please do not apply for specialty housing if you do not plan to abide by those guidelines or do not need it. For example, please do not apply for substance-free housing if you plan to engage in said substances. For the Winches and Ridges next year, you will not be allowed to do swaps or cheat the system to acquire an apartment. When Lottery numbers do come out, feel free to meet with Director Barnes and discuss where your number falls in your class average. Rising sophomores should expect to be in doubles.
• Summer housing will be more expensive for the upcoming summer, as the College recalculated the costs and realized we had been losing money. You also will have to provide a legitimate reason for needing summer housing, and virtual summer classes do not count.
• A synopsis of the email we all received about key locations changing: if you need a key for an academic building, go to Campus Safety in Hamilton, if you need a key for your room, that’s ResLife in Cro. If you were put in temporary housing while coming back from study abroad or leave: apologies for the inconvenience, but with the key situation and the custodial staff schedules, some arrangements got delayed.

2/5

• Debate Union co-founders Tanvir Hassan ‘28 and Landen Ellsworth ‘28 came to present a resolution for RSO status. Since founding the club in 2024, they’ve already competed at multiple tournaments, and at their most recent, Yale IV, they placed in the top 25 out of 124 schools. Their club is meant to develop a space for intellectual and civil debate on our campus, and RSO status would allow them to compete in more tournaments and host more practices and events. We will vote on this resolution next week.
• SGA members gave some feedback on what we’d like to see from future housing developments on campus, and answers generally pointed towards accessible apartment-style kitchen-access housing, with common spaces and other important amenities. Dean Norbert encouraged all students to go to upcoming CREDO sessions to provide them with important feedback about future housing on campus, and generally about what we want from the student experience.
• From SAC: There will be a Stuff -A-Fluff event on February 13 at 8 pm in Cro 1962– if you want to make a stuffed animal, get there at 8, they will go fast!
• I forwarded concerns from Village residents about the 191 Apartments not being available for students next year, and being converted to staff housing. Dean Norbert reported that there are unfortunately few places on campus where ResLife and Student Engagement staff can be housed, especially without Manwaring, but it is important for them to be available and on-call in case of emergencies– they would not be there to watch students, they’re just on campus to keep us safe, and there are already staff members living in the Village. If anyone has further concerns about less apartments being available to students, again, please talk to CREDO and advocate for more apartment-style housing for the future.
• We further discussed issues with accommodations and how Student Accessibility Services and Housing interact in that process, and students voiced concerns about being denied accommodations or other unfair experiences.
• The Ad Hoc Committee on Student Representation Reformation (CSRR) is looking into hosting another open forum soon to gain student input on reworking the SGA system of representation, please keep an eye out for that.