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11/8 BSG Assembly Notes

—

by

Elliott Ewell
in

Attendance:

Paul Wang

Anyi Sun

Brandon Lozano Garay

Danielle Lancaster

Sachin Maharaj

Chase Lenk

Niña Ramores

Eisa Rafat

John Donoghue

Mundo Ortiz Alvarez

Harper Stevenson

Alejandro Ramos

Camila Eljuri

Nyla Danzy

Temi Agunloye

Chelsea Moody

Elliott Ewell

Eman Okyere

Cash Reynolds

Timmy Ignacio

Eva Sola-Sole

Zahren York

Ollie Tannahil

Liliana Restrepo

 

Call to Order

Reflection from last meeting

  • Camila: It was a good meeting; Benje had a lot of reflections on community
  • Paul: Had a conversation with Benje on how it is important to consider what identities BSG doesn’t represent as a student organization; Benje will help us to have introspective conversations next semester

Committee Updates (by choice)

  • Student Affairs
    • Harper: Going to meet with Sandra Hayes tomorrow to talk about BSG’s role in supporting Counseling and the Health Center and how students perceive their initiatives
  • Facilities & Sustainability
    • Elliot: Dining survey has received over 200 responses; two ideas that have emerged are 1) lactose intolerance is an eating group that needs help and 2) specifying items that contain tree nuts in the dining hall
    • Brandon: Almost done packing laundry bins; SAD light therapy will be up and running next week; talking with Jeff Tuttle about hands-free door handles
  • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Sachin: As a follow-up from last week, the D&I committee will sponsor and event with Benje’s office around the first week of December to inform affinity leaders about the Student Belonging Survey

Proposals to Vote

    • 2324–8: BSG Design Continuity
      • Motion passes
    • Voting to support food trucks for Maine Community Foundation for Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund (Home Opener)
      • Men’s hockey team wants BSG’s help in promoting the event, doing information tabling, and lending money to rent two food trucks for the event
      • It would be $6,000 for two food trucks – Pinky D’s & Tacos de Seoul – with 350 meals being purchased from each truck
      • This is pending approval from Nate Hintze and Tim Ryan – wouldn’t give money unless approvals were granted
      • Ollie: Could we host a Lewiston-based food truck?
        • Nate: Pinky D’s is based in Lisbon; it has a partner taco truck based in Lewiston that we could reach out to
  • Motion passes
  •  2324–9: Creation of a BSG Award to honor uncommon contributions to BSG’s work
  • More so to recognize uncommon contributions to BSG
  • Would be $50 or less to two members of assembly
  • A form would go out to the assembly to vote, with Paul and Anyi ultimately choosing two recipients
  • It’s more so a symbolic gesture than money delivery
  • Similar to a preexisting award the Orient has
  • Originally thought of this proposal in the context of Bowdoin Course Reviews, but BSG has since hired them to staff
  • Motion passes with objection
  • Mundo’s book event funding
  • $800 for 20 copies of Yara and 20 copies of Minor Detail
  • Motion passes with objection

Executive team report regarding Thanksgiving Break Advocacy

  • Brandon:
    • The decision to implement a week-long Thanksgiving break is ultimately on President Zaki
    • Faculty has a sub-committee called GFA, which presented 5 options of modifying the academic calendar
    • At the last faculty meeting, some faculty members questioned if we’ve been truly representative of students in this effort. They are calling for a broader survey, as there are concerns that past surveys were not representative enough. To summarize, they are generally feeling uninformed
    • There are some concerns over the environmental impact, as well as a support system for first-generation, low income, and international students
  • Paul: There was a quick turnaround before last Friday’s meeting and no time to survey students
  • Considering BSG is an advocacy group, there is a general consensus that we should pushback and assert that these faculty requests are unreasonable
  • Eisa: Should we reach out to President Zaki before? Doesn’t seem like some of these reasons can be solved with survey
  • Anyi: Seemed like the student experience was the biggest concern; having a survey as well as some other event to show how strongly students feel might be good
  • Eisa: Things like Howell Thanksgiving could be used to demonstrate that there is a tradition of supporting students on campus over break
  • Cash: We could look into the role of ResLife in these initiatives
  • Harper: Wellness/Kate Nicholson could get involved
  • Paul: There is a quick timeline, as faculty will vote on December 1
  • Camila: International students only get one round-trip ticket all 4 years; more work could be done to support students instead of restricting length of break
  • Eman: Will be taking initiative with advocacy to reach out to student groups on campus
  • This is a good opportunity for BSG to regain its image on campus by taking an external initiative
  • Paul: Could invite the head of GFA and Dean Scanlon to next week’s meeting; Pres. Zaki will also be at the December 6 meeting
  • Harper: Could send out a schoolwide email from BSG
  • Elliot: BSG members could attend department meetings
  • Paul: We will create a document with a shared vision

Reflection exercise: prioritizing importance of reflection and feedback with Mentimeter

Adjournment