Hi Sibs,
I hope you are all taking care of yourselves, especially as nals period approaches. I write with some important updates as we close this semester.
Last week’s Senate was devoted to exploring the different mental health resources available to students. In this spirit, CG is sponsoring Active Minds’ Failure Panel which will host professors and deans speaking about their life experiences and how they have approached failure and overcome obstacles. This event will take place Wednesday, Dec. 6 in Tishman Commons from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there!
Last Monday, Nov. 27 was also spent revisiting the SOFC policies, which were rst introduced in Oct. 2017 by our Student Bursar, Natalie Jin ’18. A petition for a referendum vote on the new eboard policy was initiated, although it did not receive the 200 votes necessary to recall the vote. The petition, however, did engage the community in greater discussion surrounding eboard retreats and the value of instituting a cap versus expecting students to fund retreats through their pro ts accounts. I admire and appreciate the students who engaged with CG to make sure their voices and those of their constituencies were heard, and I look forward to seeing this engagement continue.
We held our last Senate of the semester this past Monday, Dec. 4. After hearing from Society AKX and Robogals, College Government, with a majority vote granted both student organizations constituted status.
We also heard from Muslim students about their needs that Wellesley as an institution is failing to meet, particularly in regard to the observance of Ramadan, which will coincide with reading period, nals, senior week and commencement in spring 2018. As a student who proudly identi es as Muslim, I also hope that by bringing these needs to the attention of our campus community, we will feel supported through reading period and nals, and be able to partake in Commencement activities with our families. An article written in the multicultural column in this issue of The Wellesley News covers these realities for many of our siblings on campus.
As a group dedicated to amplifying student concerns and voices, College Government always seeks constructive feedback. CG President’s Council (CGPC) will be releasing a feedback form to learn how CG has been effective, in what ways CG can improve and how this space can be made even more accessible. This form will be released to the community before the end of the semester.
Lastly, I write to inform you all on the upcoming changes that I and my co-chair for Elections Committee—Sarah Nealon ‘18, CPLA Chair— hope to institute for elections in 2018 and beyond. Sarah and I have drafted a new schedule for the election timeline so that our new of cers will be elected before Spring Break. This is earlier than usual, but we feel that this change is a necessary one to emphasize retaining institutional memory, ensuring a smooth turnover process and cultivating relationships. For each concurrent CG and Cabinet member to have a successful start, a shadowing period with each member’s predecessor is critical. Moving up the schedule will ensure that the future 2018-2019 Cabinet will shadow this year’s Cabinet for at least three weeks and then have the opportunity to lead up to two Senate meetings of their own following turnover. I want to also mention that moving up the elections schedule will also mean that those running Ballot Questions/Ballot Initiatives will be able to start their projects this academic year so that the relationships and contacts necessary are made and that these projects see fruition the following academic year.
These changes require a vote through Senate to be realized, as this new process is unprecedented and will require amending parts of the Constitution. We hope to vote on this when we return in one of our rst sessions of the spring semester. After this process, we will begin the recruiting process for Elections Committee, host information sessions for those interested in running for Cabinet and work alongside House Presidents’ Council (HPC) and Multicultural Presidents’ Council (MPC) in coordinating the debates.
If you are interested in running for a position, I encourage you to read through the Constitution for eligibility requirements. And for further questions, please reach out to anyone on Cabinet to learn more about responsibilities and service requirements for each position.
Thank you all for a great fall semester. As always, please reach out to me with any feedback, and I look forward to writing in this column in spring 2018!
All the best,
Maryam
cgpresident@wellesley.edu
