At the start of the meeting, junior and president Ty Tinker noted that senators were welcome to enjoy some of the cake that was left in the back of the room. The cake, which was left in the back of the room when they arrived, had the letters “SGA” written on it.

CAMPUS CLIMATE CHECK

Taylor Volzer, junior senator, raised the concern of a student who said the stairwell closest to Hildebrand Avenue at City Vista is occasionally locked and unable to be used. Volzer said she reached out to Stephanie Ackerman, assistant director for Housing Operations in Residential Life, who explained that research is currently being conducted.

First-year senator Benjamin Falcon said that the door of the Verna McLean Residence Hall — closest to Mabee Dining Hall — has had functional issues, primarily that it takes a long time to unlock once a Tiger Card has been scanned. Julia Shults, senior and senator emeritus, said Falcon should reach out directly to the Tiger Card Office to resolve the issue.

President Tinker gave a note from SGA adviser Jamie Thompson, who was absent from the meeting. In the note, Thompson explained an issue of card access for off-campus residents that was raised at last week’s meeting. Thompson said the access that some off-campus residents had was leftover from their on-campus residency. Residential Life is currently cleaning up instances of leftover access.

Rachel Kaufman, first-year senator, said that multiple restrooms in the Center for the Sciences and Innovation have not been working lately and that students who are working in the building late have to go to Marrs McLean Science Center instead. Tinker suggested she reach out to Facilities Services for a resolution.

COMMITTEES

President Tinker explained the role of committees within SGA and told the senate that he expects each member to be a part of at least one committee. SGA will have a dining committee, a diversity and inclusion committee, a public relations committee and a constitutional review committee.

Senator emeritus Shults asked whether the current senate would continue the work of last year’s committees that were not mentioned, like the sustainability committee and the menstrual product committee. Tinker responded that the two committees would be combined under the public relations committee.

David Tuttle, SGA adviser, asked whether a committee for the protest policy would be formed. Tinker responded that the protest policy, too, would fall under the public relations committee.

The committees were tentatively formed and took time during the meeting to discuss their goals and plans as respective committees.

DINING

The dining committee will be headed by Josephine Van Houten, junior senator, and will include first-year senators Kaufman and Noor Rahman as well as Kathryn Holy, sophomore senator.

The committee explained that they want to be more communicative with the community and want to be more transparent. They aim to make the labeling of foods clearer in Mabee Dining Hall. Adviser Tuttle encouraged the group to be communicative with the Dining Services director, Charles Robles, as well.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The diversity and inclusion committee will be headed by junior senator Volzer and will include junior senators Van Houten and Juana Suarez as well as first-year senators Connor Macias, Falcon and Rahman .

Volzer explained that the group wants to be a bridge for student representation with SGA. She said the group wants to increase visibility and transparency as well as to offer a more personable approach to SGA communication. Volzer suggested SGA have a service event with multiple other groups on campus.

Junior senator Van Houten explained that meeting with the Trinity Diversity Connection executive board would be a beneficial move for SGA in terms of clarifying their goal to become more aware of issues of diversity and inclusion on campus.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

The public relations committee has not yet chosen a head and will include junior senators Suarez, Volzer and Grace Warner, sophomore senators Leopoldo Perez, Nicholas Pereida and Carson Bolding as well as first-year senator Falcon.

The group said they will strive to improve the communication between SGA and the student body and to improve transparency. They plan to do this through revamping their social media, collecting polling data about satisfaction of their current initiatives and encouraging more student communication and engagement — specifically through things like the campus climate checks at their weekly meetings.

President Tinker urged the group to include something in their mission statement and goals that responds to complaints students may have for the senate.

First-year senator Falcon advised that the group be cautious about their interactions on social media.

CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW

The constitutional review committee will include junior senators Claire Carlson and Adelle Green, with Green as the head.

The committee aims to review the constitution at the beginning of every semester, throughout the semester as problems arise as well as when taking suggestions from within SGA and from the community to see what people would like to change in the constitution.

President Tinker clarified that every member of the senate will be a sort of ad hoc member of this committee.