To the Wellesley Community:
Welcome back! I hope you all had a great and restful break. We are now in the final stretch of the semester. This week, I want to reflect on what College Government (CG) has done this semester as well as discuss some upcoming events to bring to your attention.
We have had an incredible Fall semester in regards to College Government. Senate has been the floor for some great dialogue and action to work on projects that address any gaps we, as a student government body, found. In the beginning of the year, we hosted a mental health Senate that looked at institutional and student-led resources available to students. Often times, these resources are not known. To address this, many Senators have been working on creating a sort of document that details where students can go for help in an effort to make things more clear. The level of engagement thus far has been inspiring to see and I cannot wait to see where it takes us in the spring. To further encourage student body engagement, I have decided to re-allocate the $11,000 donation from former President Bottomly for the purpose it was given to us: to fund student-led projects that aim to bring improvements to the Wellesley community. You may recall that last academic year, this $11,000 was voted on by Senate to put towards Ideafest. However, much of it remains. These funds are in the CG profits account acting as a contingency fund in that the CG President and/or Student Bursar can decide how the money can be used. Many people have expressed interest in leading projects that benefit the Wellesley community but require financial assistance. Thus, I have decided to use it for this. The fine details are being worked out by a group of Senators and I and will hopefully be revealed at the final Senate next week. As the semester ends, so too is the time for Senators to complete their action items for the Fall. I encourage you to ask your representative about projects they have worked on.
Next Monday, Dec. 5, will be the last Senate for this semester. Please join us in the Academic Council Room at 6:00 p.m. for what will be a great conclusion to CG for now until the Spring. Though we have one official week of CG left, there are some events that I would like to bring to your attention that are happening before we all leave for Winter break.
Townhall: Model Minority Myth as it pertains to the East Asian and South Asian Community | Mon, Dec. 5 | 7:30- 8:30pm | Tishman Commons
I ran on the platform of continuing dialogue and one way that I hoped to achieve this was through town halls. College Government President’s Council (CGPC) will be hosting its first of the town hall series next Monday. We are collaborating with many orgs who are having these discussions in their communities. I hope that you will join us at 7:30pm for this very important discussion. Engage with your peers to see how Wellesley, too, is complicit in this.
Student Reps on Elections Committee – Due: Friday, Dec 2
One of the goals Cabinet had was to form Elections Committee at the end of the Fall semester so as to have more time to plan a fair and smooth elections process in the Spring. There are still two positions open for student representatives. If you are interested, please contact me at cgpresident@wellesley.edu or Cece Tsui, CGVP, at cgvp@wellesley.edu.
Study Break with Cabinet
Cabinet will host a study break. Details TBA.
As this is my last President’s Corner for this semester, I want to thank you all for this amazing opportunity. It has been an honor to represent the Wellesley community and to serve you all. I hope that you have found that CG is working on projects that are able to create tangible change. There are great things to come in the spring that I am very excited about. Best of luck these last few weeks. I wish you all good health and happiness as we prepare to enter finals. Have an amazing winter break and see you all very soon.
All my best,
Zainab Younus, ’17
College Government President
