The Undergraduate Senate (UGS) passed resolutions on the marching band, Stanford’s General Use Permit and constitutional reforms, among other measures, in March. The UGS met once during the month, on March 31.

The Senate’s scheduled March 3 meeting was canceled to let senators “celebrate Katie’s memory, grieve and take care of [themselves]” following Katie Meyer’s ’22 passing, wrote Senator Alain Perez ’23 in a Slack message. 

Senators unanimously approved the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) Annual and Spring Standard Grant Packages. “Looking at the graduate and undergraduate packages, we have a total student body requested amount of $3.9 million, which is a new record,” said Senator Jaden Morgan ’24, who also said he hoped to make funding access more equitable.

Another unanimously approved resolution changed the Leland Stanford Jr. University Marching Band’s (LSJUMB) organization status from a voluntary student organization (VSO) to a charter, transferring more power and control of the band from the University to student members. 

Following Stanford’s decision to withdraw its General Use Permit (GUP) application in Santa Clara County, Senate Associates Josie Amoo ’25 and Ritwik Tati ’25, who is also a news writer for The Daily, and Senator Michaela Phan ’23 co-authored a resolution in support of Stanford Coalition for Planning an Equitable 2035 (SCoPE 2035). The student advocacy group champions causes such as workers’ rights, affordable housing, transportation benefits and investment in local communities. The GUP would have enabled Stanford to manage development of the University’s land for purposes such as expanding on-campus housing, controlling traffic and benefiting local schools. 

The SCoPE resolution, which passed unanimously, states that demands from SCoPE 2035 should not be neglected and that the community’s opinion should be taken into account in future deliberations regarding the GUP. “Ever since this withdrawal, there’s been little information from the University about these efforts …  to make housing for faculty and staff more accessible and less expensive, so we just were hoping that the University would be more transparent about their promises,” said Amoo.

Legislation authored by Senator Gabby Crooks ’23, Senator Aden Beyene ’24, and Morgan to establish final reports among undergraduate officers was also unanimously approved, helping the UGS develop protocol to facilitate smoother transitions between elected officials ahead of ASSU elections later this month. The training materials “will be kept internal but accessible to all elected undergraduate senators,” said Beyene.

Lastly, Senator Amira Dehmani ’24 presented new legislation to place constitutional reform amendments on the Spring 2022 General Election Ballot ahead of the vote next week. These amendments include the inclusion of gender-neutral language in the ASSU Constitution and the addition of an ASSU Inspector General, whose responsibilities as a third party would include espousing integrity, abiding by Constitution rules and promoting accountability for ASSU activities.