All Student Government Association (SGA) meetings are open to the public. Three first-year students were in attendance.

Climate Check:

Junior Senator Danae Barkocy opened climate check with a question directed at junior Senator Penelope Slentz inquiring about the status of SGA’s Free Food Fridays. Vice President Donya Ahmadi explained that Senator Slentz will no longer be chairing the Free Food Fridays committee, and sophomore Senator Ella Charbonnet volunteered to chair the committee. Sophomore Senator Ani Siva suggested that Senator Charbonnet partner with the South Asian Student Association (SASA) for one of the upcoming Free Food Friday events.

Senator Siva provided an update on the initiative to raise student minimum wage on campus, announcing that he has a meeting scheduled with Sheryl Tynes, vice president for student life, on Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.

President Danny Nguyen gave an update on the menstrual product initiative, stating that facilities services have agreed to install the menstrual product dispensers, and the hope is to have them fully installed and stocked by the end of October. Once the dispensers are installed a student volunteer committee will be responsible for keeping them stocked.

President Nguyen also suggested bringing back a campus-wide day of service where SGA and different University Sponsored Organizations (USO) would each tackle one area. Senator Siva suggested that SGA also partner with Living Learning Communities like HOPE Hall. Advisor Jamie Thompson suggested that President Nguyen reach out to the Trinity University Volunteer Action Community (TUVAC), as that USO will be able to help SGA get in touch with student groups and manage logistics.

Communications Chair Caleb Aguiar brought forth a concern about transfer students feeling disoriented when they first arrive at Trinity, and he stated that he and President Nguyen would be working on an initiative to create transfer student orientation. Advisor Thompson suggested that they reach out to Esther Esparza, assistant director for orientation programs, and Hillary Everts, assistant director of admissions.

Senator Siva requested that Advisor Thompson re-forward him the email from facilities services regarding the possibility of adding more water bottle refilling stations to lower campus. Senator Siva also stated that he wanted to involve the first-year senators in the initiative after elections are over.

President Nguyen reminded the Senate that voting for the first-year senator elections would end on Sept. 22 and asked the senators to post on their socials to promote voter engagement.

Senator Siva raised a concern about the music in Mabee Dining Hall, stating that the students are unsatisfied with the filter system and the list of pre-approved songs.

Senator Siva inquired about the possibility of facilitating student access to external programs via an academic license, as many STEM students want access to specific software that they can only use by borrowing a professor or faculty login. Advisor Thompson suggested that Senator Siva reach out to Ben Lim, interim chief information officer, and Benjamin Harris, head of instruction services and interim head librarian.

Senator Barkocy suggested that SGA bring back the online complaint box and appoint a mini-committee to regularly check the complaints and respond, with the end goal of streamlining climate check. President Nguyen stated that there was an SGA feedback form titled “What To Fix” (WTF) that was accessible through the Linktree in the SGA Instagram bio. A few senators pointed out that the form needed to be updated. Senator Tinker offered his own WTF form he made last year, and Senator Barkocy offered to put together a new form and post it on social media. President Nguyen updated the form during the SGA meeting.

Legislative Relations Chair (LRC) Leal raised a concern on behalf of computer science students who were concerned about different classes learning different coding languages and the potential negative impact it could have on their GPAs. Sophomore Senator Harrison Tinker explained that the different coding languages were the result of the computer science department’s venturing outside of Scala and that the department is currently trying to determine which programs serve students best. Vice President Ahmadi recommended LRC reach out to Yu Zhang, computer science professor, for more information.

Senator Siva asked about the possibility of senators doing Instagram takeovers to help the student body become more familiar with their representatives. President Nguyen said that it would be possible to put together a social media calendar to schedule the senator takeovers.

Senator Tinker raised a concern about the construction between Calvert, Miller and Cardiac Hill. Senator Tinker described the site as “really depressing” with the smell of mildew and broken purple pipes surrounding the memorial bench on the Cardiac Hill landing, and inquired if anyone had any idea of when it would get cleaned up. President Nguyen advised sending an email to Ernesto Gonzalez, associate director of facilities services, or Jim Baker, director of facilities services, and asked that Senator Tinker copy either President Nguyen or Vice President Ahmadi to the email. Advisor Thompson suggested copying Alex Serna-Wallender, university chaplain, as well since she believes the memorial bench is named for a student who passed.

Junior Senator Angela Herrera-Alvarado inquired about the construction between Dicke Hall and Beneski Parkway. President Nguyen stated that he wouldn’t be surprised if the construction cleared up by Friday for the Dicke Hall opening ceremony. President Nguyen also stated that he would be attending the ceremony with his golden ribbon-cutting scissors.

Senator Barkocy asked for an update on the Prassel fire alarms. Sophomore Senator Allison Waters and Senator Charbonnet pulled up an email sent to Prassel students from Nikolaas Strom, residential life coordinator, stating: “a temporary solution has been found while facilities investigates the source of this issue. You may see an increased presence of TUPD officers in the building; they are conducting a fire watch as part of this temporary solution.” Senator Siva reminded the senate that sophomore Senator Andrew Phillips has a meeting scheduled to address this issue.

President Nguyen asked Senator Siva for an update on the dining selection committee. Senator Siva explained that he had signed an NDA, but shared that the committee was currently meeting with representatives from different dining companies who ask the committee questions about what Trinity wants in a dining program.

Officer Updates:

President Nguyen informed the senate that Mayor Ron Nirenberg will no longer be attending next week’s SGA meeting because he has to meet with the Consul General of Mexico, but he will be present at the Dicke Hall ceremony on Sept. 23.

Vice President Ahmadi gave the senate updates about the finance committee meeting on Sept. 20, stating that they had funded 12 requests, including a request from a Greek Life organization to help with dues and make Greek Life more accessible.

Vice President Ahmadi informed the senate that she and DEI Chair Avery Lim would be heading an initiative to create a graduation stole for Middle Eastern students.

President Nguyen informed the senate about an email from Laura Cheng, associate director of alumni relations, inviting SGA to a breakfast for alumni weekend.

President Nguyen emailed Jerheme Urban, head football coach, about hiring a marching band for football games, after taking over the initiative from Justin Doty, dean of admissions.

LRC Leal requested an update on the 210U Initiative. President Nguyen explained that the initiative has been pushed back since the other SGAs have different terms and are in the midst of elections now.