Senate Beat is Resigning

Highlights and action items: Vice Treasurer Jules Flynn resigns. Petitions for Quest and Senate special election positions close today! Swipe access to buildings has changed for safety concerns. Signators get Canva Pro! For once, all is quiet on the Commons front.

This Monday’s Senate Public continued last week’s precedent for another action-packed session. Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26 began the meeting by welcoming everyone and noting that several members of Senate were absent due to important meetings, whose announcements Gude would give for them. 

Gude and Student Body Vice President Lucy Knight-King ‘26 are working with the Election Czar, Izzie Chen ‘29, to organize the current special election. There are three seats on Senate and one Quest editor position open. Petitions for these positions are due today, Friday, October 3. 

In the first and shortest of Gude’s reports for the absent senators, Senator Justin Sotomayor ‘27 had nothing to report. Somebody’s living the dream!

Gude gave an announcement from the Health and Counseling Center on behalf of Senator Manoel Pereira Lopes ‘28, who was absent: “Beginning Fall 2025 semester, Counseling Services offering up to 12 counseling sessions per academic year (instead of 6 sessions per semester), providing more continuity of care [at] no cost to students. Case Management services available at the HCC for students desiring or needing to see a provider in the community. [The] Case Manager will try to match providers with student’s health insurance. [The] Reed Counseling Hotline [is] available 24/7 by calling 866-432-1224. [The] Rooted in Community ecotherapy group, begins October 6, [at] 4:00 - 5:15pm in GCC-A.”

Next, Gude reported for the absent Senator and Appointments Committee Co-Chair Andrew Happy ‘27 to give an update on Senate Beat’s favorite new committee this year—the Residential College Implementation Committee. They are still working out their plans and are currently focusing on including first year programs. Happy will also be reaching out for the Accountability Committee. 

Gude shared Senator Karter Stanton ‘26’s reports, stating that she has been scheduling meetings and is currently working on the Bylaw Committee. If anyone has concerns about the bylaws, they should email Stanton or Head Treasurer Yuri Garcia ‘27. Stanton also met with the Title IX Office the past Friday, September 26, to discuss how clubs can be aware of Reed’s Title IX policies and structure. 

Vice President Lucy Knight-King announced that the Legislation Committee had its first meeting and discussed an upcoming proposal for the DHS Committee.

Senator and Appointments Committee Co-Chair Sima Fasihi ‘28 was up next, reporting that she is working on events for the Student Committee on Diversity (SCOD). Referencing last week’s reports from the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP), Fasihi said that they are still working on a survey giving feedback on the junior qualifying exam. (Speaking of which, this Quest editor has officially passed theirs, with no thanks to writing Senate Beat at the same time. If you even care.) 

Fasihi also announced that the Appointments Committee (AppComm) would be meeting that week to hire some important positions: Renn Fayre Czars, Wage Reviewer, and Pool Hall Co-Managers. 

Senator Sofie Braunstein ‘28 reported that she is scheduling a meeting for the Accessibility, with nothing to report on the Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR). Braunstein gave the reminder that the Community for Accessibility Resources and Disability Support meets from 12:00 to 1:00pm in the Student Center living room on Wednesday. 

Braunstein pronounced the Reed Union on the previous Friday as a success, with over one hundred members of the community showing up to give their perspectives on the Honor Principle. One of those community members even felt moved enough by the discussion to ask the Quest email whether using a urinal without flushing violates the Honor Principle. Actually, yes it does. Please do not “let it mellow.”

Next, Head Treasurer Yuri Garcia had some major news to share. Garcia provided a statement from Vice Treasurer Jules Flynn ‘27:

"Hi everyone,

I will be resigning at the end of this week (Oct. 3). I’ve really enjoyed my time on Treasury and am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many driven members of the Reed community. Under other circumstances, I would have loved to continue my work here to the end of my term, but I can no longer fit it into my schedule along with my other commitments. 

I want to thank Maya and Yuri for guiding me and working with me for the last 10 months. I don’t think people realize how much responsibility they take on to make sure all of Reed’s clubs and organizations run as smoothly as they do. I wish all the members of Reed’s Student Senate the best and hope they are able to complete all of the projects they set out to do this year.

Thank you for taking the time to read my note,

Alice (Jules) Flynn"

On another note, Garcia transitioned to give some announcements from Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). There have been several injuries from event setup, so use caution when carrying heavy items and get help if needed. Know your own strength. Dumpsters have been a hotbed of waste disposal issues. If a dumpster is full, don’t put more trash in front of it, because waste management services will not take it. Package deliveries, especially Amazon, have also been creating an excessive amount of waste. (Pro tip: The Mailroom can dispose of many different types of packaging!) Garcia also warned everyone to be careful when walking around the Physical Plant and Fish Bridge area behind Commons, since it is frequently used by trucks.

Importantly, Garcia reported on the recent changes to swipe access in buildings. She said that the restrictions have been put in place for security reasons. Additionally, Garcia cautioned students against propping doors to buildings to get around swipe restrictions.

Next, Assistant Treasurer Maya Gutierrez ‘27 made the welcome announcement that Treasury is getting a Canva Pro subscription for all signators to use, with more information to come in the next week. 

Finally, Senator Ren Raskin ‘27 gave her reports. She met with Academic Support Services and will begin meeting with them on a regular schedule. They discussed some tentative changes to the HUM 110 curriculum. Raskin is also working with Gude on the Appeals Committee to meet about “the situation from last semester,” without further specifying the context. If you know, you know? Raskin was unable to attend the Title IX meeting and is still waiting on the Physical Plant and Events Committee to get meetings scheduled.

There was no more business—new or old—to report. The meeting was adjourned at 4:25pm, to return next Monday at the same time (4:10pm) in the same place (the Student Union). Every week that I continue writing Senate Beat, an angel sheds a single tear. Please go to Senate Public and write Senate Beat. It’s not that scary! If I can do it, so can you, and so should you!