Dear readers,

I am writing to formally introduce myself as your Student Senate president for the upcoming academic year.  I have had the privilege of meeting many of you over the last three years and for first-years, this past week.  However I would like to take this opportunity to share with you our overall vision. Watching Senate evolve and reform over the last three years has given me incredible insight into the organization and the modes of its operation that function well within the College’s shared governance structure.  The tradition of student voice and the implementation of student vote into All-College Committees are both institutionalized on campus, and I am so honored to assist in ushering all voices, ideas and initiatives forward along with my fellow senators. This year, we will submit a proposal that will review, evaluate and comment on the PE credit to the Academic Programming and Standards Committee. Last spring, with Chris Jones ’19, now Director of Academics, we analyzed the PE credit survey that was administered in fall 2015. Over the summer we have been discussing the results and current state of the requirement with relevant departments. We hope to have fruitful conversation about student concerns and suggestions that have been brought forward to us regarding the PE requirement, and I have confidence that the college will be responsive.  Continuing on with the student life thread, we hope to work with Residence Life & Housing to review and evaluate the efficacy of the roommate request option for first years that was made available two years ago.  As planning for Allison Hall and the HUB remains a priority at the All-College level, I am confident that Sara Nash, Director of Campus Life & Initiatives, will ensure that student voice and vote is found on the relevant subcommittee, as always is the case with such important decisions and discussions. The newly implemented software program, OrgSync, is already proving to be instrumental when it comes to club administration, and so Senate’s Director of Club Consulting, Colby Lutz ’19, will be working on large scale usage by clubs and organizations so that information and updates are funneled through one place for all students.

One of my favorite moments so far, as we have been going through and working out a list of priorities, has been watching an idea from a then sophomore class senator come to life. Cole Gordner ’18 informally proposed the idea of a town hall meeting where relevant division heads would present on their office’s current work and give students an overview of the role they each play in the College’s functions. All it took was for someone to voice their idea and a group of committed individuals to ask. This event will be taking place on September 19th at 7 p.m. in ATS. Whilst it is not a groundbreaking idea, it was an idea that has now come to full fruition. If anything, I hope to see more and more of these accomplishments that come in all shapes and sizes as we progress forward this year. Internally, the Executive Committee, with the direction of Philip Morabito ’17, Director of Public Relations & Marketing, plans on employing new marketing techniques and creative messaging methods to ensure that students know what is happening around campus without adding to the email saturation we all experience daily.

On the whole, Student Senate is the official conduit between students and the college. Our largest goal and hope is that students will use this arena, just as Cole did, to state their ideas, find the appropriate pathways, and work with their senators to see the change they envision on campus.