The General Student Senate of the University of Maine Student Government, Inc. (UMSG) held its ninth meeting of the semester on Nov. 4, led by President Keegan Tripp and chaired by President Pro Tempore Kyle Ricker, standing in for Vice President Cynthia Shelmerdine. During this meeting, senators reestablished dormant committees and incorporated a new Community Association.
Club Maintenance
The United Federation of Frazzleerham was granted preliminary recognition. This organization was founded to promote and facilitate the rare sport of Frazzleerham, which is currently played at only two high schools in the country (one of them in Maine) and which club leadership described as being a mix of basketball and ultimate frisbee. Despite its obscurity, the petitioners said that they are hopeful that the establishment of a UMaine chapter will lead to the game spreading nationwide.
The Official Cards Club of UMaine, which will provide a place for students to play card games together on campus, was also given preliminary recognition by senators.
Additionally, recognized advocacy group Accessibility on Campus was approved to become a Community Association Board (typically referred to as a “representative board” within Senate parlance), and will now be entitled to a seat on the General Student Senate (GSS).
Executive Reports
President Tripp reported that conversations with the university are ongoing regarding the scheduled demolition of Crossland Hall and the growing grassroots opposition from the student body, and that progress has been continuing on finalizing a ‘syllabus bank’ agreement with the Faculty Senate.
Vice President of Financial Affairs Joshua Bohm reported that $169,350.32 remained in the unallocated portion of the Senate’s budget.
Committee and Representative Reports
Orono Town Council Liaison Joseph Elliott reported that councilors were currently focused on improving experiences for pedestrians in the town, namely through reducing the volume of speeding related incidents on Main St and making foot traffic safer at the crossing near the Marsh Island Brewing Company. Additionally, the next meeting of the Good Neighbor Committee will be held on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m.
Jaxon Gamble, representing Wilde-Stein: Queer Straight Alliance, reported on two upcoming events important to UMaine’s LGBTQ community: Gay Thanksgiving, which will be held on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union, and the Transgender Day of Remembrance candlelight vigil, which will be held on the steps of the Fogler Library at Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. Gamble reiterated the importance of allyship from senators and other student community leaders, and implored them to attend these events in order to show their support.
New Business
Senators considered three bills at this meeting. The first bill moved to re-establish the Commuter and Non-Traditional Students Community Association (CANS) as a special committee of the GSS, this time called the Non-Traditional, Commuter, and Transfer Students Committee. While CANS had once been an active representative board, it had fallen dormant during this academic year; by re-establishing this representative board as a committee, Senate leadership hopes to maintain a channel to regularly connect with these students and hear their concerns.
Senators also voted to expand the responsibilities of the improvement-focused Services Committee, particularly the introduction of Proposal Intake Forms that assist senators in making requests to university administration.
Finally, senators voted to uniformly impose the GPA requirement to be seated in the Senate. While the GPA requirement has long been understood to be 2.0, this was not broadly reflected across internal governing documents until the passage of this resolution.
