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Senate Meeting #14 - 11/14/23

Minutes / Senate · 111th session · dated November 14, 2023 · updated January 2, 2026

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

111th JHU Student Government

Senate Meeting #14

November 14, 2023 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused:
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (3 min)

    1. Interdisciplinary Initiatives Presentation - Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives, Dr. Lainie Rutkow

  3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

  4. Public Input (3 min)

  5. Reports (17 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)

      1. Student Body President - President Ryan Chou
      2. Student Body Vice President - Vice President Jackson Morris
      3. Student Body Secretary - Secretary Amy Li
      4. Student Body Treasurer - Treasurer Jenny Chen
      5. Chair of Programming - Chair Shalala Leny
      6. Director of Communications - Director Connie Weng
      7. President of the Senate - President Dalhart Dobbs
      8. Director of Research - Director Jason Shumsky
      9. Advisor Report (2 min) - Dr. Charles Norman

  6. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

    1. Nevermore Haunt Event Report - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny and Secretary Fernandez
    2. Phi Delta Theta Crab Fest Event Report - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny and Maahi Ameer
    3. KSAS Shared Governance Council Update - Senator Timothy Huang

  7. First Reading

    1. African Student Association Fashion Show Funding Bill and Presentation- Senator Brandon Benjamin
    2. Constitutional Amendment - Parliamentarian Jaden Garcia
    3. SAC Bylaws Amendment - Treasurer Jenny Chen

  8. Second Reading

    1. LOTQ Tabling Funding Bill - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny

  9. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Headshots for Website - President Dalhart Dobbs
      1. Needed From: Rachel H, Brandon B, Srigouri O, Vishnu D, Tarini B, Jaden W, Arihant S, Omotara T, Viveka C, Arjun M, Michael P, Zoe G, Omar G, Angela S, Steven D, Jam N, Angela X, Cynthia S-H, Daniel P, Zubin B, Karim I, Buse K
    2. Attendance Check-Out - President Dalhart Dobbs

  10. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 10:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.

111th JHU Student Government

Senate Meeting #14

November 14, 2023 / 07:00 PM / Hackerman B17

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused:
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (3 min)

    1. Interdisciplinary Initiatives Presentation - Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives, Dr. Lainie Rutkow
      1. 20 years - Professor at the School of Public Health
      2. Emphasized that she has been a part of the Student Government and appreciated our efforts
      3. Asked to speak to us about her office (Office of Interdisciplinary Initiatives), her favorite initiatives, and ways students can be involved in them
      4. University’s new home: Hopkins Bloomberg Center in DC (5 minute walk from the Capitol)
      5. There’s a shuttle that enables the transportation between this center and the train station
      6. The School of International Studies has been brought under a roof for the first time
      7. A lot of the atrium has been preserved during the building’s transformation from a museum
      8. Images featuring the library, reading/study area, theater, and more were shown to communicate what the building currently looks like
      9. The building has been designed in a way that is flexible - a lot of the furniture is moveable and adjustable
      10. Mentioned Hopkins Semester D.C., which is an opportunity for “12-15 Hopkins undergraduates, who will spend an immersive semester living, studying, and working in DC with all courses taught at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center.” This cohort will also complete intensive coursework, a DC-based internship, and co-curricular activities. It will be launched in Spring 2024.
      11. Senator Will: Is this opportunity for students from any major?
        1. It is only available for KSAS students
      12. Senator Tarini: Are there any events that will allow the students to explore this center?
        1. Yes, that is the plan.
      13. Senator T. Huang: Are there going to be any new programs that will allow more undergraduates to get involved in this?
        1. Mentioned Nexus Awards, a new university-wide funding program that supports
      14. Senator Jaden: What are some of the sustainability initiatives?
        1. This is the end of a 5-year project
      15. Class President Resham: How is the transition going to be made for these students from Homewood to this building?
        1. Challenge and opportunity: Have access to the same resources they have access to on this campus.
        2. Building features a Student Health and Wellness Office, which is more convenient than how it is here
        3. The students that are about to arrive
      16. President of the Senate Dobbs: Are there any infrastructure to help these students to find housing in DC?
        1. She said that she is not precise to talk about this yet but there are assistance that will be provided and there is ongoing work to shift the focus to that
      17. Senator Daniel: How does a student’s participation in this program affect their graduation?
        1. She believes that she has two seniors participating in this program, so she knows that participation in this program does not interfere with their graduation.
        2. Senator Daniel asked this question considering that there might be juniors who might want to participate in this
        3. She mentioned that they are expecting to have this opportunity in Fall 2024 again
      18. Vice President Morris: Are there rooms for large student groups in the building?
        1. Yes, especially for the SGA, that can be figured out.
      19. They are also hosting the JHU Congressional Briefing Series
      20. Senator Danial: He has a friend participating and he said that there is a 30 minute walk between his dorm and the building. Will shuttles be available
        1. She said that it is more like 17 minutes (she has data about this). Shuttles are planned, but not sure if it will be available for students that will be there in spring.
        2. Senator Danial: It was mentioned that engineering students and some KSAS majors are not the focus of this program right now. Why is that and is that going to be the case in the future?
        3. She said that for now, engineering programs are not the right fit for this opportunity since the building doesn’t have wet labs in it, which also causes some other KSAS majors to not be transferable to this program.
      21. Vice President Morris: Are there any opportunities for students to collaborate with professors?
        1. Yes, there is actually a student that collaborated with an educator.
      22. An advisory committee regarding the crisis in the Middle East that also features students has been formed. This group will be getting together for the first time in the morning tomorrow. She mentioned briefing series and meetings with point people from student affairs and other related offices.
      23. Vice President Morris: Concern regarding academic freedom (professors not being able to voice their opinions, etc) has been brought up. Are there ways to support them in being able to talk more about these issues?
        1. She said that this sometimes depends on the person’s comfort. She expects to talk about this with the committee that will meet tomorrow. She expressed that this is a tricky question and depends on what people are comfortable with talking about, but she takes the question really seriously and assured that they have been working on it.
      24. Senator Jordyn: What is the committee’s overall goal and is it under these offices that you talked about?
        1. It is under their umbrella. The point of this committee is to be advisory (not only in programming) and responsive.
        2. There are 6 students that are on this committee and they are mostly undergraduates.
        3. There is also another group that has been formed to talk about religious affairs and concerns.
      25. Vice-President of the Senate Nasreen: I was wondering if there has been any discussion on long-term projects (such as creating a course that gives more information about this conflict).
        1. She said that this would be a plausible idea, and asked to learn about the opinions of the SGA members.
        2. Senator Daniel expressed that he would really like to have such a course.
        3. President Dobbs mentioned that students tend to choose more flexible and general courses rather than courses that focus on a more niche area, which might be an obstacle in students choosing to take this elective.
        4. Vice President Morris thinks that having such a course during intersession could be a good idea, but housing is a problem. Maybe Zoom, but participation is low.
      26. Senator Will: What about other conflicts that are going on around the world? Such as the ones in Congo, Africa.
        1. She said that the programming is put together in a way that allows them to act upon issues around the world responsively. She agrees with him, though.
        2. Dobbs mentioned that the office is taking action in approaching conflicts other than the Middle East conflict by using this situation as a model.
      27. Senator Daniel: We already do have some of these classes. There is a course called “Future of Israel” that will be available in spring, so there are courses like this already.
      28. President Rasham: Even if there are guest speakers coming, discussions are also needed. She recommends having the faculty more engaged.
      29. She asked people to not hesitate to reach out to her if anyone is interested in talking more about this.

  3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

    1. KSAS Shared Governance Council Update has been moved to the upcoming weeks.
    2. A motion to discharge the committee, so a discussion can be made about Constitutional Amendment after it is introduced by Parliamentarian Jaden
      1. Instead, rules will be suspended.
    3. The ASA Funding Bill has been moved to the beginning of the First Reading.

  4. Public Input (3 min)

    1. None

  5. Reports (17 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)

      1. Student Body President - President Ryan Chou
        1. Brief update: Biggest thing is that during the upcoming break, the interdisciplinary work of the SGA will be investigated and worked on, which might affect how the Executive Branch works with the senate.
        2. They had the chance to meet with the Student Government from XXX
        3. They also met with the Judiciary, which might raise more discussions about some of the committees.
      2. Student Body Vice President - Vice President Jackson Morris
        1. Our GBM on December 5th is canceled as it is on the same date as the Lightning of the Quads.
        2. He suggested a trip to the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in DC. Getting funding for transportation is the goal.
      3. Student Body Secretary - Secretary Amy Li
        1. They will be focusing on infrastructure and other SGA initiatives. Since she is responsible for the SGA organization, so she asked anyone interested in this to contact her about this.
      4. Student Body Treasurer - Treasurer Jenny Chen
        1. SGA has 10.000 USD left
      5. Chair of Programming - Chair Shalala Leny
        1. Currently, they are working on the Lightning of the Quads planning
      6. Director of Communications - Director Connie Weng
        1. They are working on the Instagram posts
        2. If you are an executive members, please check your Teams as they are contacting you for Exec introduction posts
      7. President of the Senate - President Dalhart Dobbs
        1. The Middle East Advisory Committee is meeting tomorrow
        2. SGA Joint Statement on the Use of Social Media: Anyone interested can contact an executive member
      8. Director of Research - Director Jason Shumsky
        1. No updates
      9. Advisor Report (2 min) - Dr. Charles Norman
        1. Absent

  6. Non-Legislative Business (15 min)

    1. Nevermore Haunt Event Report - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny i) Secretary Fernandez - For the Halloweekend, all 120 tickets ended being sold. All the money from the SGA and the money given was spent. Input with regards to finances from the previous experience will be kept in mind for future similar events. Freshman formal will be sold for a respective amount. The photographs from the event will be released soon but the cover photo was unveiled.
    2. Phi Delta Theta Crab Fest Event Report - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny i) Xxx- The event was a huge success, with 200-250 people registering for the event being the planned target but it ended up being 300 events. The amount ended up being a 5 figure sum and all the profit will be given to two different charities. It was a successful event and given the success, the event may return. There are a few logistical concerns but it will be kept in mind for the future events.
    3. KSAS Shared Governance Council Update - Senator Timothy Huang i) Senator Timothy Huang- KSAS has asked the Senator to make a presentation on the SGA. Given how people are not similar with the SGA structure, the members of the SGA are asked to let the Senator know of any projects or proposals they wish to have included in the presentation.

  7. First Reading

    1. African Student Association Fashion Show Funding Bill - Senator Brandon Benjamin
      1. Goal is to educate general population at Hopkins by immersing student body in the culture and events
      2. People included in the event: Hopkins students, students from other campuses, faculty…
      3. Supporting African designers
      4. Charity event (all money goes to charity) - this year it’s: united to beat malaria
      5. Some numbers:
        1. Models: 55
        2. Committee Members: 10
        3. Eboard Members: 13
        4. Special Volunteers: 5
      6. Performance groups are mentioned in the Google Slides under the “Performance Groups” slide
      7. Theme is Dusk to Dawn
      8. There are different tiers of tickets ranging from $20 to $10.
      9. Accomplishments have been recognized by: The Washington Post, org of the year, outstanding student program award…
      10. Designers were willing to reduce their pricing
      11. Amount request from SGA was $5,550
      12. Showed us a video of last year’s fashion show
      13. Contact: jhuasaeboard@gmail.com
    2. Constitutional Amendment - Parliamentarian Jaden Garcia
      1. Discussed 2 amendments (linked in document)
      2. Amendment 1: allowing to have more than 1 assistant secretaries
      3. Amendment 2: changing attendance policy
      4. After opening the 2nd amendment, we moved into a discussion. The below was discussed:
        1. Amending 1st amendment to give more way and power to contribute from the executive board
        2. Lack of effectivity of impeachment, so it was recommended to remove the impeachment process
        3. Introduced the idea of a 1:1 meeting with the secretary after a certain number of absences (introduced by the secretary)
        4. Amends will be rectified according to the discussion
    3. SAC Bylaws Amendment - Treasurer Jenny Chen
      1. Introduced bill to remove the student activity commission which was originally supposed to attend the finance committee but due to inactivity it was recommended that they’re deactivated
      2. Due to growing number of students in the finance committee, it is reasonable to remove SAC
      3. Formal amendments were mainly focused on changing the language and directing all SAC responsibilities to the finance committee members.
      4. Referred to IA

  8. Second Reading

    1. LOTQ Tabling Funding Bill - Chair of Programming Shalala Leny
      1. Went over the bill
      2. Introduced the “Spin the Wheel” activity
      3. Total funding required: $2455.73
      4. Went into a moderated caucus for 15 min:
        1. 1st suggestion: removing gloves and making the shirts only one color to reduce price
        2. 2nd suggestion: reducing the amount of money spent, cut down on expensive/smaller items
        3. 3rd suggestion: it’s unnecessary to give away that many clothing items, we should be more considerate of our financial constraints
        4. 4th suggestion: keep only the stickers, sweaters, wheel and board
        5. 5th suggestion: motion to remove the gloves (everyone agreed)
        6. 6th suggestion: motion to remove the hats (everyone agreed)
        7. 7th suggestion: motion to remove the ornaments (everyone agreed)
        8. 8th suggestion: motion to remove the blue jay and micro-blue jay plushies (everyone agreed)
        9. 9th suggestion: motion to increase the number of stickers to (everyone agreed)
        10. 10th suggestion: motion to increase the number of stickers to 1,000 (everyone agreed)
      5. Senator Stacey: she will get the wheel from her group
        1. Motion to remove wheel from the budget - 100% passed
      6. Director Connie: Using a single color for the sweater to reduce the cost. Maybe look at acrylic keychains but they are $4
      7. Motion to increase the number of stickers to 1000
        1. 100% passed
      8. After a recess, the price decreased to $1089.26.
        1. 100% PASSED

  9. Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

    1. Headshots for Website - President Dalhart Dobbs
      1. Needed From: Rachel H, Brandon B, Srigouri O, Vishnu D, Tarini B, Jaden W, Arihant S, Omotara T, Viveka C, Arjun M, Michael P, Zoe G, Omar G, Angela S, Steven D, Jam N, Angela X, Cynthia S-H, Daniel P, Zubin B, Karim I, Buse K
      2. Chair Shalala: Are there any preference for Thurs or Tues for November Tabling?
        1. None
      3. Senator Ari: Let
    2. Attendance Check-Out - President Dalhart Dobbs

  10. Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 10:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.