Student Assembly formed six summer initiatives so they could hit the ground running this semester. The Spring 2020 Assembly is pictured above.
This summer, Student Assembly (SA) formed six summer initiative committees with the aim of creating a more efficient governing body. SA President Tommy Keith ’22 stated that the initiatives, each pursued by an SA board member, were born out of prior issues emphasized by the spring semester and established a bridge between the administration, SA, and the student body. Many of the initiatives hold equity and racial equality at the forefront and work to build the infrastructure required to address inequality on campus.
The
Constitution and Funding Committee,
chaired by Seámus Wiseman ’21 and Nicole Ramirez ’23, respectively, spent the summer making over 60 pages of edits to the SA Constitution and bylaws, primarily including rewriting SA funding codes, revising election codes, and updating antiquated sections. Funding revisions include the new cluster funding section, which delegates the power to distribute funds to appointed deputy treasurers and allows for more efficient collaboration with student organizations seeking funding. It also changed the election process for treasurers to ensure that funding is distributed more equitably.
The
Publicity and Transparency Committee,
chaired by Ashley Garcia ’22, focused on how to best distribute information to the student body and improve accessibility. This includes creating the SA newsletter: SA On the Brain and weekend Instagram takeovers. The #KeepHamiltonHealthy campaign also uses social media to share Covid guidelines and updates.
The
Training for Student Assembly Representatives Committee
held workshops for SA members throughout the summer to ensure that frameworks were put in place before arriving on campus. Leadership workshops discussed the responsibilities of board members and required team building for representatives. The committee also trained members on the Central Council’s rules and funding codes to prevent any funding debacles, as well as met with SA E-Board members to ensure that they are aligning with SA’s missions of transparency and community advocacy. Handbooks with the SA Constitution, each student organization and their mission statement, and descriptions of each Assembly role, are being prepared for each representative.
The
Building an Inclusive Campus Culture Committee (BICC),
co-chaired by Keith and Mariam Saied ’23, was created following discrimination and violations of community standards on the anonymous media app Jodel. The committee then released a statement of support for Black and Latinx Student Unions (BLSU) demands to administration and meet with the Hamilton Advisory Council to review the demands of cultural and identity based organizations. They also began the #KnowThyInstitution campaign, which will work with student artists and graphic designers to expose the inequities of Hamilton College through visuals. This summer initiative has rolled over into the fall semester in the form of SA’s
Equity and Inclusion Committee
. The committee will soon require equity statements from each SA-funded organization and are working on other measures to ensure that their actions are not just performative. They are also continuing to organize cultural affairs events throughout the semester and have a DEI training with Dean Maria Genao-Homs.
The
Building SA’s Relationship with Hamilton College’s Administration Committee,
chaired by Eric Kopp ’22, appointed liaisons to each Hamilton department. The committee also held workshops on the resolution process.
“Our goal for this committee is to look at who in administration we haven’t worked with,” said Kopp. “We didn’t have official contacts with several departments and need to revamp how to interact with administration.”
The
Constitution Committee
reviewed the SA Constitution and bylaws, election codes, and mission statements. It focused on updating documents and increased representation of organizations and students.
These initiatives, aside from the
Equity and Inclusion Committee
(now co-chaired by Lóri Fejes ’22 and Mariam Saied ’23) and several programs like the newsletter, don’t roll over into this semester. Tommy and Eric were excited to announce several new committees taking off this fall.
The
Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, and Development Committee (AED),
chaired by Jiin Jeong ’21 and Olivia Chandler ’23, will conduct research on other student governments and support AED for students affected by the pandemic. The committee is excited to work with these three departments not previously worked with.
The
Community Affairs Committee,
chaired by Dorothy Poucher ’21 and Amanda Kim ’21, will be meeting with Counseling Center Director David Walden to organize some mental health campaigns centered around accessibility, resources, and destigmatization.
The six summer initiatives set up programs to increase SA transparency and accessibility while improving equity on campus. They created the framework needed to increase SA efficiency and administrative relations as well as address some major concerns on campus. Keith will also be holding office hours every Wednesday from 7 p.m.–9 p.m. for students to voice concerns and opinions.