October 25: This week in Student Government
Club Relations Chairman Joey Alameda, Spirit Chairwoman Donia Firooz, Sen. Tara Stark, Sen. Wiley Fletcher, Sen. Antonella Colon and Sen. Gisselle Ortiz-Jimenez presented a proposal in continuation of last month’s discussions to restructure the Student Government Association (SGA). Problems with the current model include inter-committee cooperation, transparency, deliberation surrounding club budgets and holding Hofstra’s administration accountable. Moving forward, senators expressed they wanted to see “SGA as a governing body that makes advocacy, representation, and change for students as the main priority.”
Senators suggested a two-council system to replace the current one, but concrete changes have yet to be decided upon. This would also entail the dissolution of the Executive Cabinet. The transition would happen next semester at the earliest.
“A lot of the legislation we pass only affects the people in this room. This structure would better suit the student body,” said Sen. Celeste Battipaglia.
“We are handling approximately $300,000 and it isn’t a game we’re playing,” added Comptroller Rhea Bathija.
The Public Relations Committee also discussed plans to produce a newsletter and create a webpage where the student body can reach out to their SGA senators.
Further plans were made for campus renovations, with special attention paid to the library and to accessibility around campus. The Public Relations Committee discussed initiatives to solicit greater input from the student body, including more surveys on the state of the campus as well as putting suggestion boxes in the Student Center.
SGA also expressed frustration that the dining hours were moved back to 9 p.m. Last year, SGA opted to extend those hours until 10 p.m., but the decision was reversed without consulting or informing SGA. They hope to write a resolution to reinstate the 10 p.m. closing time. SGA also reduced the eight hour club hours mandate instituted earlier this year to just one to three hours.
It was also announced that SGA members will have a meeting later this week to address the lack of progress in creating an online reporting system for harassment and instances of discrimination, which they had hoped to implement in June of last year. However, it is not yet functional due to privacy and technological concerns. It is expected to go live later this month.
The Newman Club, Hofstra’s faith-based Catholic organization, spoke on the SGA floor regarding a “lack of funding” for a yearly excursion to a religious retreat. SGA does not fund “retreats,” so the Newman Club was denied funding. Newman Club representatives pointed out that SGA funded their own retreat, which sparked a discussion on what the term means. The Newman Club representatives suggested a resolution be introduced to strengthen these definitions and ensure greater consistency in funding. The Newman Club has been invited to sit in on the next Club Relations meeting to come closer to a solution to their funding disparity.
The Hofstra Dutchmen and Makin’ Treble, both gender-based a cappella groups on campus, were awarded SGA-recognized status this week. This comes after Makin’ Treble was denied SGA-recognized status at prior meetings because it is audition-based.
The Undergrad Chinese Student Association applied for SGA-recognized status but did not obtain it due to “a few issues” with their club constitution.
De Moda, a fashion-centered student organization, was formally recognized by SGA.
At the start of this month, there were 26 clubs that had not yet held an election. These are at risk of having their budgets frozen if they do not hold one by the end of the semester.
Chairwoman Firooz appointed Sen. Alexa Paturzo as the new spirit deputy. Gigi Walker was appointed the new Ambassador for It’s On Us, and will help to organize campus resources surrounding sexual assault prevention.
