Senate Beat Welcomes You (Yes, You!)
Highlights and action items: Senator Eleanor Davis-Diver ‘26 resigned. Next week’s Public will discuss the possible Student Body fee raise. A new campus committee called Residential College Implementation has been formed, which looks at establishing aspects of a partially-independent community within the college and on campus. Finally, progress is being made on the investigation into Gary Granger, as well as his expected PE classes, all of which were cancelled as a result of his suspension.
This year’s first Senate Public was held on Monday, September 8, in Eliot Chapel. Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26 began the meeting by welcoming everybody to the weekly gathering, where “senators talk about what kind of work they did that week and student attendees ask questions they can respond to.” The official start time for Publics is 4:10pm. Gude then introduced the numerous committees which they belong to: Admissions and Financial Aid, Appeals Board, Art & Murals, Climate Assessment with the Office for Institutional Development, Library Board, Student and Campus Life, Renn Fayre, Student Publications, and the Financial Committee (FinComm). Initial communications with Financial Aid introduced their members for the semester; the Associate Dean to the Vice President and Dean of Admission & Financial Aid Kat Buckspan is in charge of the committee and will send out the schedule shortly. Secondly, an appeals court is currently in session, and a new senator has been added to the Appeals Board to oversee the court. For the freshmen, the Appeals Board is an alternative to Judicial Board (J-Board) consisting of three faculty and three students who deliberate sexual misconduct and other major cases; one of the students is the Student Body President and the other is a Senator who is not on J-Board. The murals committee sent out their introductory emails and will likely start meeting next week! The Renn Fayre committee has not yet met because they have not hired czars. Additionally, the Student and Campus Life group is actively working on obtaining more information about the situation involving Gary Granger and his release of an alumnus’ data to the Portland Police Bureau. Particularly, his PE classes “Mindful Walking” and “Birding Reed” were cancelled, which disrupted many students’ schedules.
Head Treasurer Yuri Garcia ‘27 was not present, and Gude read their reports for committee communications. Importantly, Senator Eleanor Davis-Diver ‘26 has resigned from the Senate one semester before her term ended. This means that the upcoming special election will have two Senate positions to fill, as ex-Senator Milo Gardner-Stephens ‘25 graduated last Spring and his seat will also be vacant.
Student Body Vice President Lucy Knight-King ‘26 stated her continuation in the Alumni Liaison committee, as well as Art Collection/Murals, the Center For Life Beyond Reed (CLBR), Commencement, Climate Assessment, Legislative Committee, Student Spaces, Student Committee on Diversity (SCOD), and FinComm. Knight-King cannot attend the alumni board meeting planned for September 21 due to conflicting timing with Funding Circus, but she will review notes afterwards. Additionally, Knight-King had a meeting with CLBR that morning.
Senator Renata Akeed ‘28 stated their participation in the following committees: Hum 110, Reed Union, Admission and Financial Aid Committee, Student Publications Liaison, and the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP). Akeed stated that they were working on setting up initial meetings.
Senator Manoel Pereira Lopes ‘28 announced that he is a member of the Accessibility Committee, Art Collection/Murals, Commons/Bon Appétit Liaisons, Health & Counseling Center (HCC), Accountability, International Student Services (ISS), SCAPP, Application Committee (AppComm), and FinComm. He has an upcoming meeting with the HCC on September 26.
Appointments Committee Co-Chair and Senator Sima Fasihi ‘28 reported that they are also a liaison for Academic Support Services; Title IX; CLBR; Drug and Alcohol Committee (AOD); Accountability; HUM 110; Student Spaces (which now includes the SU); Sports Services; Residence Life; Sexual Health, Advocacy & Relationship Education (SHARE); SCAPP; and SCOD. Fasihi attended a CLBR meeting that morning to discuss directions for the semester. Significantly, she announced that CLBR is hiring a new director, replacing Alice Harra. Additionally, they are seeking a permanent Pre-Med advisor to replace Marcos Villanueva, who is occupying the position left behind by Marwa Al Khamees. Fasihi has more meetings coming up: AOD committee on Tuesday this week, Res Life on Thursday, as well as SHARE and SCAPP at some point. She also wanted to bring sophomores’ attention to the Financial Services Fellowship (FSF) due around October, which provides students with a funded trip to New York City. The AOD committee was planned to meet on the following Tuesday, while Res Life will meet on Thursday. SHARE and SCAPP meetings are coming up. Fasihi also met with the Athletics, Fitness, and Outdoor Programs Director Michael Lombardo, who wanted to remind people that the athletic facilities exist as a resource outside of PE classes. For the Title IX committee, Fasihi established a meeting with Title IX & Section 504 Coordinator Christy Martin the following Wednesday.
Assistant Treasurer Maya Gutierrez ‘27 is a website liaison, Accountability Group liaison, Bookstore board member, and FinComm member. FinComm starts its regular meetings on Thursday at 6:00pm, for which Gutierrez requested that students show up in the first 15 minutes.
Vice Treasurer Jules Flynn ‘27 is the Admission and Financial Aid Committee liaison, Student Spaces, Renn Fayre Committee member, Student Publications liaison, and Finance Committee member. They declared that next week’s Senate Public will be themed around an increase to the student body fee that all students pay. If passed, it will have an impact on students as early as two years from now, affecting current freshmen and sophomores. Finally, Flynn brought up that Treasury office hours start next week.
Appointments Committee Co-Chair and Senator Andrew Happy ‘27 is a member or liaison of the following committees: Community Safety, Accountability Groups, Legislation, Student and Campus Life, ResLife, Student Publications, AppComm, and the Residential College Implementation Committee. The Residential College Implementation Committee is a brand-new group consisting of faculty and senators, which was created as a division of Student Life to look into the possibility of implementing a residential college model for Reed in the future. They are currently doing foundational work looking into what residential colleges look like and whether any of their characteristics can be incorporated into future planning for Reed. Additionally, he has a meeting set with Academic Support Services for September 19 and is awaiting a response from the Community Safety Office.
Senators Happy and Karter Stanton ‘26 met with the Associate Dean of Students & Campus Life Claudia Ramírez Islas on Wednesday, September 3 to discuss what alternative PE courses will be offered to students who signed up for Granger’s class. In the next meeting, Student and Campus Life liaisons will discuss the amount charged to low-SES students living on campus during summer and resources to support them.
Senator Sofie Braunstein ‘28 has signed up for the Accessibility committee (which they will schedule a meeting with once other members are hired), CLBR, Commons, Community for Accessibility Resources & Disability Support (CARDS), Hum 110, Reed Union, Sustainability, Stop Hazing Committee, FinComm, and Student Publications. Elaborating on the CLBR meeting that morning, Braunstein said that they discussed ways CLBR can collaborate with Senate through data and surveys administered on Handshake to reach more students. CLBR will continue posting Senate jobs in their newsletter, and Braunstein also highlighted fellowships for sophomores. She also has meetings planned in the next week with Commons, CARDS, and the Reed Union on Tuesday, Sustainability next Friday, Hum 110 at an unannounced date, and Student Publications once the relevant signator lists are sent to Senate (you heard it here, folks! Get on it…).
Senator Karter Stanton ‘27 is a member of the Appeals Board, CSO Liaison, AOD Committee, Accountability Group, and Library Board member, as well as a liaison for SHARE, Sports Services, Title IX Committee, Bylaw Review, Stop Hazing Committee, and AppComm. She is establishing contacts for the year as well as scheduling relevant meetings. She is also collaborating with Garcia to conduct a review of the Senate bylaws, hopefully meeting with Martha A. Darling Dean of Students Chris Toutain soon to update them once his schedule frees up.
Last, but not least, Senator Ren Raskin ‘27 is working with Appeals, CEP, Hum 110, the Physical Plant, Title IX, FinComm, and possibly Academic Support Services, which she still has to check in with faculty coordinators about joining.
The Appeals Board had to reschedule from last Friday and Raskin hasn’t heard from Physical Plant.
After the floor was opened up for business, a freshman raised a question about leading a club social night that day. After a brief chuckle, an unnamed senator responded by mentioning the form required to become a club leader. The freshman responded by stating that the event in question was for Photography Club, which hadn’t been set in stone yet. This senator was on the same email chain and explained that they will schedule a meeting, as the freshman was also going to be a student space manager. Another senator clarified that if the student wasn’t requesting funds, there was little bureaucratic work to be done. Another presumed freshman chimed in to ask whether someone starting a new club later in the year could do online signator training. An unnamed senator responded by agreeing and bringing up going to FinComm for funding.
Current Judicial Board Chair Paloma Griffin-Herbert expressed an interest in nominating Michael Faletra, the current chair of the English Department, for the faculty advisor position in J-Board, which was put to vote with one opposition and no abstentions. Subsequently, Senate Public was adjourned at 4:28pm. At last!