President Johnson visits Senate
College President Paula Johnson joined the beginning of the first senate meeting of the year to welcome students. She first discussed the ongoing implementation of Wellesley’s updated strategic plan, and then addressed her most recent email to all students concerning a racist email sent around at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also shared that the College is currently looking for a replacement for Dean Rebecca Garcia, who left at the end of the 2020-21 school year; the new dean will have the title of director of student success and will be in charge of first-generation and low income students, among others.
HPC corner
Tower House President Zoë Owens ’22, this year’s House Presidents Council (HPC) liaison, made announcements related to residential life, including reminding students of the lockout process and to pick up their packages in their dorm lobbies, which have been delivered by Mail Services to alleviate the number of packages held at Lulu.
Open Position for SPEC Chair
College Government (CG) announced the upcoming election for Senate Policies and Ethics Committee Chair (SPEC) and invited eligible students to run for the position, which will ultimately be elected by members of the Senate. SPEC Chairs must have had at least one year of Senate experience, although they do not need to have been an executive senator. The SPEC Chair will be responsible for maintaining the integrity of the College Government by accepting and reviewing constitutional and ethical concerns. Students who are interested in running for the position should send a brief statement of intent to CGPresident@wellesley.edu and SPECChair@wellesley.edu by 11:59 p.m. on October 3.
Student Questions
Several student concerns were brought up at the end of Senate during open discussion.
Student-at-large Izzy Galm ’24 asked for updates on the non-functioning Blue Light system on campus. Dean Bate shared that the administration is still working on finalizing locations, and encouraged students to contact her at CBate@wellesley.edu to suggest locations that would benefit from a Blue Light.
Senator for Severance Hall Alexandra Brooks ’23 suggested the administration extend the deadline for credit/non-credit as they did last year. College Government President Gisella Mota ’22 intends to bring this up to Academic Council.
Clara Shanabrook ’23 and Diana Paulsen ’21 shared concerns about the restrictions on out-of-state-travel. Dean Bate responded that the policy will be revisited in early October, but emphasized that it was designed to ensure student health and safety.
