In a meeting again focused heavily on the funding of student groups, the 16th Undergraduate met Tuesday night.
Much of the conversation centered on specific concerns regarding the funding requests for student groups. The Social Entrepreneurship Students Association (SENSA) was seeking money for their event hosting Wikipedia founder and CEO Jimmy Wales. After much deliberation, the Senate decided to ultimately give SENSA funding, even after they held a second vote on the matter after some Senators expressed confusion regarding the first vote.
According to Eric Theis ’16, the Senate’s Treasurer, the Senate spent around $25,000 this week, which is above their recommended weekly allotment.
There was also some controversy regarding the one bill Senate did vote on Tuesday night. The bill would create a formal space in the Senate by-laws for recommendations on future programs.
The bill was originally co-sponsored by Victoria Kalumbi ’15, who is currently abroad, and Theis. Kalumbi, who has remained involved with the Senate despite being abroad, disagreed with some changes to the bill, expressing dissatisfaction that the bill was to be voted on despite the changes to its content.
“I think the action to vote on the legislation was not respectful nor did it endorse the values of intellectual honesty as enumerated in the Code of Conduct,” Kalumbi said. “Certainly, one could argue that there are specific procedural rules that would allow the events to occur; the vote of this bill may be well within Senate’s rules. While that may be true, I feel these actions are contrary to the spirit of the values stated by our University.”
The bill, however, did not garner the two-thirds majority required for passage.