New Senators and Officer Appointments
Three new senators were sworn in this week: Shweta Desai, Linh Phan and Zoe Thomas.
Resignations and Dismissals
Hashim Allah resigned as a senator, Erin Daugherty resigned as Representative to the Graduate Student Senate and Auyon “Alex” Rahman resigned as Chair of the Fair Election Practices Commission.
Shiraz Mahmoud and Troy Cochran were dismissed due to attendance issues.
Club Presentations
Jeffrey Klemm from Campus Activities and Student Engagement told senators that if they have any questions on student organizations or leadership programs, they can find him in Room 149 in the Memorial Union.
Executive Reports
President Mary-Celeste Floreani said that she was glad to see the Senate growing as new senators are sworn in. Hiring has opened up for the Director of Communications (DOC) position, and Floreani will serve as chairperson for elections at the end of the meeting.
Vice President Logan Aromando set Sept. 24 as the tentative date of their retreat, and said he was looking forward to seeing everyone there. Aromando also reminded senators of parliamentary procedure, due to the influx of new senators.
Vice President for Financial Affairs Song Ping “Ryan” Wong reported $381,248.87 in unallocated funds.
Vice President for Student Organizations Jacob Wood said that he has begun meeting with student organizations, and reminded the Senate that the committee is still looking for a new member.
Vice President for Student Entertainment Jared Dumas reiterated the purpose of the Student Entertainment committee and reported that their first meeting will be to brainstorm smaller events for the fall semester.
Periodic Reports
The Faculty Senate position is vacant.
Board of Trustees representative Samuel Borer was not present, and there was no report.
The Fair Election Practices position is vacant.
Legal Services Liaison Maria Maffucci reported that Attorney Sean O’Mara has met with 20 clients so far this semester, and would like to meet with all new senators. He also met with executives on how to protect against club fraud. He has two student trials next week, and thanks the Maine Campus for working with Legal Services last year.
Orono Town Council and Old Town City Council Liaison Jacob Bradshaw announced Orono’s decision to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. The council also approved the use of the Field House for most elections while school is in session.
Old Town City Council meets next month.
ROTC representative Michael Davis was not present.
The DOC position is vacant.
Provost Samuel Borer was not present, and there was no report.
Reports of Standing Committees
Marking, Membership, Policy and Procedure, Political Activism and Services are all vacant.
Representative Board Reports
Commuter representative Amy Diaz was not present. Floreani announced that they are co-organizing Fiesta Friday, which took place on Friday, Sept. 15.
Honors College representative Christopher Gilbert was not present. Floreani announced that they held elections last week to fill officer positions and established committees.
Interfraternity Council (IFC) representative Samuel Parkinson reported that they had their first meeting last week and have a series of upcoming events, including Beta Theta Pi’s annual Kan Jam Klassic and Fiji’s annual Humvee Push on Saturday, Sept. 23, as well as Alpha Gamma Rho’s annual paint wars on Sunday, Sept. 24.
Panhellenic Council representative Sarah Wainer reported that recruitment went “really well,” with 138 completing the process. They have not held a meeting yet.
Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative Jillian Lary said that they are still organizing a meeting schedule, and in the meantime are planning big events like a talent show and the Dodge for a Cause tournament.
Community Association Reports
Student Heritage Alliance Council (SHAC) representative Mohammad “Fazeel” Hashmi was not present. President Floreani reported that they held their first meeting on Monday, with almost all club representatives in attendance.
Student Women’s Association representative Meghan Frisard said they also held their first meeting on Monday, and planned future events including Take Back the Night.
Wilde Stein representative Maura Philippone was not present, and there was no report.
Unfinished Business
The Senate held a roll call vote on the cabinet veto over the Presidential Search Committee. This vote was postponed last week due to lack of attendance and failure to reach a two-thirds majority. The Senate voted 12-2 in the affirmative.
The Senate passed a bill amending the standing rules of the University of Maine Student Government, lowering the GPA requirement for a senator from 2.5 to 2.0.
New Business
The baseball team was granted $2,000 for dues, vans, baseballs and bats for games and practices for the fall season.
The Society of Women Engineers was granted $3,000 for plane tickets and hotel rooms for 12 students to attend the Women Engineers conference in Austin, Texas at the end of October.
The Woodsmen Team was granted $3,525 for registration and hotel rooms for three meets this semester, as well as propane installment to heat their building throughout the winter.
Men’s club soccer was granted $4,000 for equipment, dues, referees, travel, lodging and food for the fall season.
Traditional Music and Dance was granted $1,560 to hold two more contra dances this semester.
Women’s fastpitch softball was granted $885 for travel and lodging for their game against Northeastern this weekend.
Elections
Jacob Bradshaw was elected President Pro Tempore.
Linh Phan and Zoe Thomas were elected to the Executive Budget Committee.
Bentley Simpson was elected Faculty Senate Student Representative.
Melody Cropley was elected to Membership.
Trevor Lessard was elected to Policy and Procedure.
Linh Phan was elected to Political Activism.
Bentley Simpson was elected to Services.
Zhiewi Liu was elected to the Student Organization Committee.
