The third meeting of the quarter for the 17th ASSU Undergraduate Senate took place Tuesday evening. The Senate approved the notion that they would modify the bylaws regarding Senators taking a leave of absence. However, confusion regarding which version of the bylaws to use dominated the discussion.
Mehraan Keval ’18 was appointed deputy chair of the Senate, and the Senate also approved funding for the ASSU and the Department of African and African American Studies to bring John Legend to campus.
Internal policies
Hattie Gawande ’18 took a leave of absence this quarter and failed to notify her colleagues by week six of the prior quarter, but the Senate voted last week to keep her as a Senator. Pablo Lozano ’18, as Senator David Wintermeyer’s ‘17 proxy while he is abroad, spoke on his behalf.
“We as elected leaders must have Stanford as our priority,” Lozano said.
However, this week, the Senate voted to accept Gawande’s proxy, Luka Fatuesi ’17, and decided to modify the bylaws to ensure clearer guidelines for future Senators who take leaves of absence.
Though the Senate agreed to modify the bylaws, confusion ensued over which version to use, since the 16th ASSU Senate altered the bylaws but never officially added their changes to the ASSU website. As a result, the Senate discussed potential dangers of operating under conflicting guidelines.
“This is a mess right now that we have to clean up,” said Eni Asebiomo ’18. “And we can’t really do anything until we do clean it up.”
The Senate also voted on a bill that would allow votes to be recorded to increase Senate transparency.
“It’s a pretty good way to keep us accountable,” said Senate Chair Sina Javidan-Nejad ’17.
Keval was also voted deputy chair over Asebiomo after a discussion over their relative workloads. Keval plans on staying deputy chair for the entire year.
Upcoming events
The Senators also discussed funding for several different upcoming events.
Despite arguments that the AAAS should approach the Senate for the funds, a bill granting funds to the ASSU Executives for the St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture and Concert passed. The concert will feature John Legend.
Funding for Full Moon on the Quad, the Mausoleum Party, Theta Breakers and Veterans Day Fun Run were also discussed. TG Sido ’18 is planning a dodgeball event, and Lozano is working on Residential & Dining Enterprises initiatives regarding lighting, hand-dryers and paper towels in bathrooms.
Contact Anne-Marie Hwang at amhwang ‘at’ stanford.edu.