Prose
7:10 p.m. — Meeting called to order
Jazz: Thank you so much for being here tonight—members of the public as well as our senators—and for spending your Tuesday evening with us. Thank you to the administrators for taking the time to be here, present, and participate in a Q&A. The meeting officially comes to order at 7:10 p.m. We will begin with a quick roll call. Nora will take attendance for the senators. When you hear your name, please say “Here” or “Aye,” or otherwise indicate that you are present.
Nora: Thank you all for being here. I will run through attendance quickly. Please respond verbally so that I do not have to look up.
[roll call happens]
Jazz: Thank you, everyone. For the next 30 minutes, our administrators will present and then take questions: 20 minutes for presentations and 10 minutes for Q&A. Members of the public who would like to participate should raise their hands. Shreemann will identify speakers as “member of the public number one,” “member of the public number two,” and so on, so that you do not have to identify yourself if you do not wish to. We will still address your question. We will have members in the back, behind the doors, if you need to step out at any point. You do not need to give a reason. If you need a moment away from the room or someone to talk to, people will be available there. If we do not get to your question, please write it down. There will also be an opportunity to submit questions to us, and we will make sure they get answered. Thank you again for being here. I am turning it over to Vice Provost Hernandez.
Hernandez: Good evening, everyone. I am Rachel Hernandez, Vice Provost for Student Affairs. Thank you for giving us some time. Did everyone receive the broadcast message on Friday? The message was titled “Sexual Violence: Resources, Support, and Reporting,” and we wanted to follow up today with information in real time. The message was signed by four offices: Student Affairs, the Office of Institutional Equity, Public Safety, and Student Health and Well-Being. Representatives from each are here because, together, we provide education, training, and support for students. Our objectives are to make sure you know how to report sexual violence and understand what happens when something is reported to OIE or Public Safety. We also want to highlight the training and education available, including ongoing bystander intervention training and other resources. We will leave time for questions. I understand that we have a hard stop at 30 minutes because you have a busy agenda. As the presenters come up, they will introduce themselves. This is not the only conversation. Over the next month, we have conversations planned with student leadership groups and student organizations, along with education and training in on-campus living and residence halls. It is also “Secure Your Nest,” Blue Jay Safety Month, and a number of events and programs were already planned in conjunction with that. We want to make an explicit invitation to all students: please use the resources available to you. Your safety, health, and well-being are important to us. Whenever you would like additional training or education—for yourself, SGA, or any student organization—we are here. Does that sound okay? I think OIE will go first. Julie, you are up, and Linda as well. Please introduce yourselves so students know who you are. We will try not to talk too quickly, but we have a lot to cover in 30 minutes.
Office of Institutional Equity
Julie: Hi, everyone. I am Julie, the interim assistant vice provost and Title IX coordinator in the Office of Institutional Equity.
Boyd: I am Linda Boyd, interim Vice Provost for Institutional Equity.
Julie: We prepared a few slides, but we primarily want to give you a brief overview of what happens if you report something to OIE. Our office oversees the enforcement of reports of misconduct all throughout the institution, covering students, faculty, and staff.
Boyd: We will go through these quickly. <Asks for microphone> That one work? Okay… These are the policies OIE oversees, to give you a framework. Tonight, we are focusing on the Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures. We will not go through every detail, but they are available on our website. The slide lists the types of conduct prohibited under that policy. What we want to explain is what happens when we receive a report. Reports come to us in many ways: directly from the person reporting an experience; from responsible employees, such as faculty or Public Safety; and through online reports, which may be anonymous or identify the person submitting them. However a report comes in, we want people to have information about their options and how to obtain support. Especially when a report comes through a responsible employee, our first step is usually to send the affected person an email. It explains who OIE is and what we do, identifies supportive and confidential resources, describes options and supportive measures, and links to policies and other information. Our goal is to make contact, tell people what resources they can access, and ask whether they would like to speak with OIE. Nobody is forced to speak with us. In matters involving sexual violence, we also proactively connect the person with Elise Campbell, whom you will hear from shortly. She is a confidential resource familiar with OIE’s processes, and students can speak with her even if they have not decided whether they want to file a report or know they do not want to do so. Often, we do not hear back immediately, particularly if the person did not contact us directly and the information came from a responsible employee. Someone may save the information and contact us months later to discuss supportive measures or learn what an OIE process would involve. We follow up a couple of times by email and may try another way of reaching the person if one is available.
Julie: When someone decides to speak with us, we can have several different kinds of conversations. We defer to the affected individual about how they want the meeting to run. We can talk exclusively about resources and supportive measures. For example, if something caused you to miss class, we can help seek an excused absence. If you are struggling to study, we can contact faculty about an assignment extension. We can also explain your rights and options for moving forward with a complaint through the university process. We have an investigative and adjudicative process governed by state and federal law. Explaining it takes some time, and we will spend as much or as little time as you need going through the details. You can then decide whether to share information about what happened or take more time to consider how you want to proceed. There is no time limit for filing a complaint with our office. Earlier reporting can help because witnesses may still be on campus and memories may be clearer, but we can generally work with students whenever they come to us. What I have described is the intake process. During intake, we also assess any risk to the wider community. If someone decides to proceed with adjudication under the Sexual Misconduct Policy, we determine which procedures apply. There are two: the procedures for Title IX sexual harassment and the procedures for other sexual misconduct. The investigative processes are fairly similar, but the adjudicative processes differ somewhat. You could probably teach a whole law school class on those distinctions. We are happy to explain them, and anyone who would like to learn more can make an appointment with us.
Boyd: You will hear about supportive measures from several people tonight. One reason we send information out and want people to have it is that they are entitled to supportive measures regardless of whether they want a formal process, an investigation, or even to tell us the specifics of their experience. Examples include the academic accommodations Julie mentioned and connections with Public Safety for security escorts. There are many options listed on the slide, and we can tailor measures to an individual situation. People have different schedules and circumstances. There are many ways to help someone feel more comfortable and safe without requiring an investigation. We include this in the initial email because, for many people, our process ends at that second stage on the earlier slide: providing supportive measures, assessing risk, and so on. They may decide not to pursue an investigation, but we want them to know they can still access support.
Julie: Our policy has several definitions of sexual misconduct. Title IX sexual harassment has a specific definition. It includes conduct you might ordinarily think of as sexual harassment, such as quid pro quo harassment—for example, a professor saying, “If you do not go on a date with me, you will not get an A.” It also includes hostile-environment sexual harassment: unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that is severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive. You may be more familiar with the offenses referred to as VAWA offenses: sexual assault, stalking […], dating violence, and domestic violence.
Boyd: The broader range of sexual misconduct on the earlier slide has long been prohibited. As long as I have been here, the university has had a broad prohibition covering different forms of sexual misconduct. When the Trump regulations took effect in 2020 and then came back into effect in January 2025, they narrowed what universities were required to address under particular grievance procedures. Johns Hopkins, like many institutions, created an alternative process so that the same range of misconduct would remain prohibited. If conduct falls within the Trump regulations, we must follow those grievance procedures. Otherwise, we use our procedures for other sexual misconduct, based on the procedures we had before those regulations. That alternative is still a robust, detailed, trauma-informed investigative process. It looks different, especially because it does not have a live hearing with cross-examination at the end. The next slide gives the specific criteria used to decide which set of procedures applies. We do not need to cover all of those details tonight. We are running short on time, so we will not spend long on this comparison slide either. Each column shows the steps under one set of procedures. They are similar in some respects, with differences particularly in the adjudicative process after OIE completes its investigation. If you remember one thing about OIE tonight, it is that we are a compliance office. The policies we oversee are governed by laws that can make the process more complex and arduous than we would choose. But our office is staffed by people who want to work with you and explain what to expect at every step, so you know what you are getting into. We can meet with you as many times as you need to discuss what the process would look like. You have substantial agency: you can use some available protections and not others, and you can come back later. There is flexibility.
Boyd: We know the process can sound confusing. Please reach out to ask questions. You can speak with us anonymously, and you do not need to file a report to learn about the process or supportive measures. We answer questions and arrange measures even when there will not be an investigation. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.
<Public Safety and JHPD>
Hernandez: We will ask Public Safety to come up next and continue the presentations before taking questions. Thank you again for letting us discuss these resources. This is an important topic, and this will not be the only conversation. There will be further conversations, and you can also reach us by email.
Calvin Smith: Good evening, everyone. I am here from Public Safety on behalf of Bard, who is under the weather and sends his regards. This will not be the last conversation. I would like to introduce my colleagues: Jarron Jackson, Assistant Vice President for Public Safety), and the Johns Hopkins Police Department’s Deputy Chief of Support Services.
Jackson: Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. This is a challenging but necessary conversation. I want to acknowledge that many of us have been affected by sexual assault, and the courage it takes to be in this room and participate. In responding to sexual assault, Public Safety’s central goal is to minimize further trauma to the survivor. We do other work—collecting evidence, making a scene safe—but it comes back to preventing additional trauma. There is no wrong door for reporting sexual assault to Public Safety. You can call 911, call our dispatch center, or walk into an office and speak with someone. We are here to support you. You do not need to memorize everyone’s role or the differences between Public Safety and JHPD. Contact us, and we can connect you with law enforcement resources, university resources, OIE, or other support appropriate to your needs. You can provide as much or as little information as you want. You do not have to give your name. We receive emails from people whose assaults occurred eight, ten, or twenty years ago. Survivors can report on their own timelines, not ours. A delayed report does not lessen its importance or the urgency of responding. We want to give every report the attention and support it deserves. I will hand it over to my colleague.
Quovella M. Maeweather (Deputy Chief for Support Services): Good evening. The Johns Hopkins Police Department’s primary role is to protect survivors’ privacy and ensure that survivors control the process. When someone contacts us for assistance, we provide options; we do not dictate which direction they must take. We act as facilitators between Public Safety, student services, OIE, the Baltimore Police Department, and other resources, depending on what the survivor wants. We make sure they understand their options and protect their privacy. We do not pressure anyone to take a particular action. That might mean accompanying someone to court for a protective order, or helping them speak with Student Affairs or behavioral health. We work closely together to facilitate the path they choose. As my colleague said, students do not have to work out which door to open. They can contact any of us, and we will help. At Johns Hopkins, taking a report does not mean simply handing someone over to another authority. We help bridge that gap. We have traveled to other counties to support students and affiliates, and we have accompanied them to court to help the process go smoothly. With another law enforcement agency, a person might feel like just another survivor; we want to make sure they receive the care they deserve as a member of our community. Thank you. If you have any questions—oh I suppose we will get to that part I don’t want to jump—
<Health Promotion and Well-Being>
Hernandez: Thank you. Elise, I will ask you to come up. Many of you may already know Elise.
Elise Campbell: Hello, everyone. I am with Health Promotion and Well-Being. My team does two main things. First, we are confidential resources for students who have experienced any type of gender-based violence, including the conduct Linda and Julie discussed. We help students navigate whatever processes they are interested in. You may have seen the “We Listen. You Decide.” materials on mirrors around campus. They direct students to confidential resources. My team is listed, but we are not the only resource. Others include Religious and Spiritual Life, Mental Health Services, […], and Primary Care. The sexual assault helpline is listed at the bottom. My team is not available 24/7, but the helpline is, and it is staffed by […]. When we meet with someone, we use what we call survivor-led problem-solving. The team was designed to be confidential so that students do not have to decide whether they want to report before talking with us. If they know they do not want to report, they can still talk with us. Because we are confidential, we do not have to involve other offices, except when someone reports abuse or neglect of a minor or vulnerable adult. That reporting exception applies to people licensed in Maryland. We can connect people with additional on- and off-campus resources, including TurnAround and House of Ruth. We can assist someone seeking a peace or protective order, as can Public Safety and JHPD. We also help students address barriers to their education resulting from gender-based violence. If a student is struggling to study for an exam or needs a space on campus to be safer to navigate, we can work with them and involve the relevant offices without disclosing identifying information. We focus on helping the student complete the task at hand. If a student decides to report to law enforcement or OIE, my team can remain with them throughout that process. We can make introductions by email, help draft emails, and provide other assistance they need to access their education and feel safe on campus. Our second area is education. Bystander intervention training comes from my office. We do not need to go through these slides one by one; they are also on our Instagram, and I can share them. The last slide has a QR code […]. Some of our programs will already be familiar to you. We run the bystander intervention training that you have completed. We also run the “I Ask. I Listen. I Respect.” consent campaign, which you may have seen on mirrors around campus. We provide programming on healthy relationships, skill-building, healthy communication, and survivor support. If there is something you need and we do not already have a program for it, we are happy to develop one. That is an overview of our team’s work, and I will leave time for questions.
Hernandez: We will now open it up for questions.
Jazz: Before we begin, I want to explain the format; these remarks will not count toward the ten minutes of Q&A. I recommend a ten-minute moderated caucus. Raise your hand if you wish to speak, and we will add your name to the list. Members of the public will be identified by number. When the ten minutes end, the questions will conclude, but there will be another opportunity later tonight to raise questions and arrange to have them answered. Senators, remember that our questions represent the student body. Be mindful that we are asking on behalf of people affected by these issues, both inside and outside this room, as well as for ourselves.
Demarri: Motion for a ten-minute moderated caucus.
Second: [Tola, more]
Aye: [some]
Nay:
Abstentions:
Natalie: Thank you for presenting. I appreciate the resources you described, but many seem to focus on reactively supporting survivors after harm has occurred. Has the university considered other approaches to preventing harm? Sociological research suggests that sexual violence can result from organizational dynamics and norms of behavior. What is the university doing to build a culture of consent on campus, beyond responding to individual incidents?
Hernandez: I will ask Elise to speak to that.
Elise: Prevention is at the forefront of our work. One of the programs my team offers is bystander intervention training. It involves four hours of training and uses a public-health model: primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention, which we describe to incoming students as before, during, and after. The “before” portion focuses on community change. We intentionally address participants as active members of their communities, rather than as potential perpetrators or potential survivors, while acknowledging that the data tell us both are present in the audience. When people are near behaviors they do not want in their community, they have an opportunity to intervene; that is where the intervention models come in. Every new student must complete the training. Graduate students in public health also participate, and we are working with the School of Nursing to make it required there. We get some pushback about the four-hour commitment, especially from newer students, but I remain firm about it because it allows us to have these in-depth conversations. We are currently in the Red Zone, the period when the greatest number of sexual assaults occur on campuses nationwide. My team is doing extensive red-zone programming, including bystander intervention and our consent campaign. The consent campaign teaches people how to ask for consent, listen for consent, and respect indications that someone is not interested. We ask students to understand the legal and policy standards for consent and then set a higher standard. I do not want young people entering intimate or sexual relationships thinking only, “Let’s make sure this is not a policy violation.” Our programming asks everyone to center agency, autonomy, joy, and pleasure. When those are the standards, questions of consent, whether something is wanted, and whether coercion is involved are already being considered. We want to give students tools for intimacy and sex that center their own humanity and that of the people with whom they interact. We also offer substantial programming about healthy relationships. We are also offering intimate-partner-violence awareness programming in October, including a Clothesline program on the 21st. [...] There are many programs; please check our website.
Hernandez: Education is an important part of this, which is why we require mandatory training. The programs Elise is describing can also be offered to any student organization or group of students throughout the year, not only this month.
Abraham: My question is mainly for OIE. I looked at the latest annual report, the 2024 report, and the average time to close a sexual-assault investigation was approximately 230 days, up from approximately 200 days in the comparison year. These proceedings are already difficult for survivors. What makes investigations take so long, and what steps can be taken to shorten the process?
Linda: We are very aware that our timelines are long and do as much as we can to shorten them. The figure begins on the day we receive a report, whether from Public Safety, a responsible reporter, or someone contacting us directly, and runs through the investigation, adjudication, and any appeal. There are many phases, including the initial work on supportive measures. Some of those stages are required by law. Under the procedures shown in gray on our slide—the Trump-era procedures—we must hold a live hearing with cross-examination. There are procedural requirements such as a ten-day period to review the evidence file and another ten-day period after the report is provided before a hearing can occur. Those requirements contribute to the length of the process. We know how painful it can be when a case continues for a long time. We try to provide updates in whatever way the people involved find most helpful. Sometimes that means no emails: people tell us they do not want reminders appearing in their inboxes, so we create a OneDrive folder and upload communications there for them to review when they feel able. Others want an update every two weeks, or prefer to contact us only when they want one. We let the individuals involved guide that communication. The process must also be thorough. We ask the person bringing the complaint about witnesses, other people we should speak with, evidence we should review, and information we may need to obtain from the university. We also speak with the accused person about the information we have gathered and hear their response. If the complainant is willing, we generally meet again to explain how the respondent answered and give the complainant a further opportunity to respond. We share other relevant information gathered from witnesses or the respondent so that the parties have a full opportunity to address it. Every sexual-misconduct investigation results in a thorough written report. Both parties have an opportunity to review and comment on that report. All these stages take time, although we try to expedite them. Another important point is that the date we receive a report is often well before the date an investigation begins. Someone may first want to ask questions or discuss supportive measures. We may meet two, three, or four times before obtaining the information necessary to fulfill the legal requirements for starting an investigation. This is a robust process, which is why we emphasize that people can come to us to ask questions and understand their options. They can also access confidential support while deciding whether to proceed with OIE. As Julie mentioned, there is no time limit for filing a report with OIE.
Jazz: To make sure more Senators have an opportunity to ask questions, I would like us to reach at least three more questions on the board. We can continue discussing questions later, including those from members of the public.
Hernandez: Would you prefer a question followed by a brief answer, or all three questions followed by answers?
Jazz: A question followed by a brief answer would be best, so that we can reach more senators.
Veda: Thank you all for coming. What does the timeline look like from the accused person’s perspective? After an initial report is filed, what immediate action is taken, and what determines when the case is closed?
Julie: When we first receive a report, we focus on the complainant: gathering information, offering supportive measures, and finding out whether they even want to discuss the specifics. We need very specific information to prepare the written notice required to begin an investigation. During that initial period, the accused person typically does not know that OIE is involved. We are working with the complainant to determine what they want to do and whether we have enough information to proceed. Once an investigation begins, both parties receive notice at the same time. A case closes after the investigation and full adjudicative process: a report is prepared, the parties review it and have an opportunity to comment, it is finalized and sent to a decision-maker, and the parties have an opportunity to appeal. If there is an appeal, that must also be resolved. The parties are then notified in writing that the case is closed. The other part of your question may concern interim measures. Whether or not an individual decides to proceed, if we have sufficient information, we can consider measures such as no-contact orders, conduct a risk assessment to determine whether interim suspension is necessary, and put other measures in place to create distance between the individuals involved.
[Boyd or Julie, I don’t know]: One thing missing from much of the discussion is that this is intentionally survivor-led. I have been in this role for thirteen years. One of the original criticisms of Title IX processes was that universities were not sufficiently survivor-centered or survivor-led. It matters that the survivor has a role in deciding when to contact the person accused of harming them and whether to involve Public Safety or law enforcement, because notifying that person can place the survivor at risk of further harm. Survivor-led decisions are built into our work, policy, and procedures so that the person who experienced harm is as safe as possible when the accused is notified.
Royce: In light of the news from Cornell, do your departments plan to do anything differently in response?
Jazz: Before that question is answered, the caucus time has expired. We can extend it by five minutes if that works for the administrators. We would also like members of the public to have an opportunity to ask questions after Royce’s question is answered.
Nora: Motion to extend by five minutes.
Second: [someone]
Aye:
Nay:
Abstentions:
Jazz: 5 more minutes.
Julie: We are always working to change our programs based on what students need. We constantly reevaluate our policy to ensure that it complies with an evolving area of law and reflects best practices learned through investigations and adjudications. The news from Cornell was shocking, but this is work those of us on this side of the room have been doing for years. We continue looking for ways to make our work more engaging, responsive to students’ needs, accessible, and memorable.
Jazz: Thank you. A member of the public is next.
[Member of the public]: Regarding the JH Broadcast email, I and many other students felt that including Blue Jay Safety Month was inappropriate. Some of the items listed were events rather than resources directly relevant to the situation. I understand that the month is intended to help students feel safe, but placing it in this context, particularly before other vital resources, felt dismissive. I do not want to assume your intentions. Could you explain the reasoning behind including it?
Hernandez: Thank you for sharing that perspective. The programming, education, and training scheduled throughout the month intentionally support the issues we are discussing today. Blue Jay Safety Month began three years ago as a week of programming; last year it expanded to a month. This year includes intentional education and training on sexual-violence prevention and available support. We included it as another set of resources and programs, alongside the offices and services that already exist, to make sure students knew these opportunities were available and accessible. That was the reason it was included.
Elise: I saw the broadcast message before it went out, and this was a blind spot on my part. I was thinking about how to connect students with the resources and programming we are offering. My team will be involved in the safety programming, so I saw it as an opportunity to get in front of students. I hear you that it did not land well, and there may have been a better way to communicate it. My thinking was that many people would be reading the message at this moment, and I wanted them to know what we were doing and how to engage with us. I appreciate the feedback.
Jazz: Natalie’s will be the last question tonight.
[Member of the public]: I want to follow up on my earlier question. It was helpful to hear how Elise’s office proactively promotes a culture of consent, but I would like to direct this question to Student Affairs, LEED, and the offices overseeing organizations that are often accused of sexual misconduct. I understand that OIE’s processes require survivors to come forward and sometimes provide identifying information before action against an individual can proceed. That does not prevent other offices from taking disciplinary or proactive action to prevent harm. For example, to my knowledge, fraternities receive only about an hour of anti-hazing training, although I am not especially familiar with this area. These issues are interconnected. Mistreating people at the bottom of a power hierarchy, including women and gender minorities, can perpetuate a culture of harm. How are the student-affairs offices proactively addressing that culture?
Hernandez: From a Student Affairs perspective, the required bystander intervention and Title IX training we discussed is a baseline. Students, faculty, and staff should have the education necessary to understand that this is serious and that our community does not tolerate it. Our offices continually work on the issues you are describing. There are also mandatory, ongoing trainings involving Elise’s team, OIE, our teams, and Public Safety. These include fraternity and sorority life, other student organizations, resident assistants, first-year mentors, student-athletes, and other leadership groups. There is annual training in addition to the introductory requirements for the whole community. This is serious for us, for you, and for survivors in this room. We think about it constantly. Part of what I hear in your question is that we need to communicate this work better so students understand that education does not end when they first arrive. It is ongoing training that we take seriously. If your student organization would benefit from training and has not received it recently, we want to know. We want that training to be more prevalent. We will also take back the question of who else should receive ongoing, semesterly, mandatory training. There is already substantial work underway.
Jazz: Is there a way for students to access the resources presented tonight?
Hernandez: Yes, we can make those available. You do not need to know exactly which office to contact. Elise is a confidential resource, and there are others, including in Religious and Spiritual Life. If you reach out to any of us, we will help connect you. Whether you are making a report or are a survivor seeking support, navigating the offices should not be something you have to worry about. There is an interconnected web of support, both for education and training and for individual assistance. Any of us will help ensure that a student gets what they need.
Jazz: Thank you all for coming tonight. The administrators’ discussion time has ended, but senators and others who did not get to speak will have an opportunity to discuss this later. We can collect questions and send them to the administrators and faculty who attended so that people who did not get a live answer can still receive one. We will now return to the agenda.
Shreemann: POI; If you want to move to a place with more room, feel free. Jazz: If you have follow-up questions that you did not get to ask, please contact the email address on the board; it is mine. I want to make sure you receive a response. Please do not feel unheard because you did not get a turn tonight. We want to ask those questions and communicate the answers to you. Thank you to everyone who participated, whether you asked questions or listened to the presentation. We will now move to the swearing-in of members, beginning with our SGA advisor, Tekeya Peterson. For those who do not know him, this is Chief Justice Felix Titre, who leads the judiciary and will administer the oaths.
Peterson: <script>
Jazz: and with that we will now invite the freshmen to be sworn in.
Royce Willis: <script>
Noah Sokol, Kevin Tse, Heidi Ding, Kevin Wu: <script>
Njambi Kamenwa, Sophia Zhang, Andrew Zhang: <script>
Jazz: Um, we could take a pictureHere, we'll take a picture. Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. Um, Okay, I'm gonna take it.
Jason: Wait, okay, can you guys shout? Say, “Let's go, Hopkins” on three. Ready? One, two, three.
freshmen: Let's go, Hopkins!
Jazz: All right. Um, for the programming members who have joined us tonight, obviously, thank you so much. I would also like to say you do not have to come to the weekly SGA GBM. So obviously this one is extremely special because you were able to join us here tonight after being elected. However, in the future, this is not a mandatory session for you. You are always welcome to be a part of it. For our senators, the president—yes, this is mandatory. Please continue. Thank you. So with that, the amendment to the agenda was just moving something out of second reading, and it's at first after it went through the committee. Otherwise, this is how you saw it last. Are there any [...]?
Shreemann/Demarri: Point of personal privilege: Can you repeat what you said?
Jazz: Oh, I'm sorry. The amendment to the agenda was—there was something in second reading. This survey table bill was in second reading after it went through Finance—I would say Council—Finance Council. It is in first reading. So that is the only amendment.
Shreemann: Wait, why would it go in order? Why would it—
Peter: So, changes need to be made, so I wouldn't review it until the next week. […]
Shreemann: Point of order:; That can just be done in Finance; it doesn't need to be at first reading. Because we can only pass it with some recommendation or send it to first reading, right? We can't take it […], or can you amend it?
Amy: Fast Forward Finance allows the treasurer, Senate president, or Finance Committee chair to relegate a funding bill back to first reading.
Jazz: So with that, it's gonna stay in first.
Shremann: Oh, you're sending it back. Okay. Okay, that was unclear.
Demarri: Motion to approve the agenda.
Second: Shreemann
Aye: [some]
Nay
Abstentions:
Jazz: Okay. We're gonna start with cabinet reports. Jason.
<Cabinet reports>
Jason: First off, a round of applause for our […]. Congratulations again to everyone who is newly elected. And I just want to, real quick, highlight a couple things—[…] different areas of focus that we want to pursue this school year. Me and Sumi, and some other members of the executive board, our three main areas of focus this school year are student engagement, student experience, and school spirit and morale. That last one ties a lot in with programming, and that's something I'll mention about in a second. But we want to, first off, engage more with students, whether that be through in-person conversations or online communications, such as the email you all received today. We want to have those conversations, whether it's through tabling or other opportunities. And Sumi and I have discussed maybe the potential coffee chat, coffee hours kind of situation where you can sit down and have conversations with any member of the student body, just to increase communication and engagement. And then we also want to push for these avenues for dialogue. We also want to listen. A big thing is listening intentionally, right? And I think it's really important for us to not just be representing our own interests, but also what the body actually wants. So it's important to listen. And we also want student experience to be elevated through everyday things, such as within the res halls, within dining, and things like that. And, of course, school spirit and morale—we want to work closer with programming and collaborating and promote events that bring students together, such as the flag football [...]. I hope to see you guys at more of these events. I hope to see you guys more involved in the programming events, because they put in a lot of hard work. And if you guys turn around, that's Hannah. Hannah is pretty much the director for programming, and she's put in so much hard work. And there's a talent show coming up; she spearheaded that. Grace and Hannah, they put in a lot of work and effort, not just this year. They've both been there for many years, and we should be supporting them more at events and things that they've put a lot of work into. If we could all […], show up to the talent show and other events. But, yeah, our goals: listen more, communicate, collaborate, and follow through together. Welcome […].
Sumi: Congrats to Royce, Kevin, Kevin, […], Gabi, […]. We have platforms like GroupMe, we really want to have you all share your initiatives and actions, so that all the senators know about it, and then you all spread the word […].
Nora: Oh, yeah. We both are being here while we're up. Really make sure you're checking your attendance. […] it'll be on [...] at the end and [...]. Besides that, I don't know, I feel like we got a little bit of whiplash when we were talking about this, where—so, um, yeah, I hope everyone is doing okay with that. And remember, as for the SGA, what I want us to do is connect to the people outside of SGA [...] and bring those conversations up [...].
Amy: All right. Thank you so much. Um, so based off of our event grant approval today, our full spending is at 317K-ish, um, out of our now confirmed 512K. So that's about, like, 62% of spending for the entire year, which is to be decided whether significant, I guess. Yeah.
Grace Guan: The talent show is on the 17th at 7 p.m. in Shriver. [...] fall retreat [...], morning activity, lunch [...], afternoon activity. Catering will likely be Ekiben [...]. If you have dietary restrictions, please let me know.
Sienna: [nothing]
Jazz: Um, I'm gonna go into my update. So again, thank you so much. As Nora mentioned it, as well as the agenda says later, we're gonna be able to round out the discussion from earlier, so that if we have any further questions or anything that we should figure out, we'll have some time.
Other than that, many of you senators have been having amazing initiatives. They're really wonderful. I've been really grateful to be able to sit in on committee meetings and hear about all that you're doing. One thing that I'm gonna request is that you CC a member of exec, just so that we're able to help you, because I've spoken to a few members here, and it's been helpful, I think, to be able to see the emails and then just be able to push it. So that's just more so that we're making sure that the administration has seen those emails, that we’re in the loop, so we're also able to celebrate you and all the amazing things that you're doing. But other than that, yes, we will have further conversations tonight. And then [...]. With going to advisor reports, Charles stepped out. Tekeya, is there any report?
Tekeya: No report.
Jazz: Okay. With that, we're going to go into senator reports. I'm gonna hand it off to Grace.
<Senator Reports>
Grace Wang: Okay, so for Academic Affairs, [...] with the course manual initiative. So right now, we covered our first milestone, which was to go over the review guide, basically, with the FAs. We're mainly focused on increasing transparency with the foundational abilities. That includes, like, being transparent on what each of the FAs mean, which basically would give them more meaning, give you a better understanding on each of the FAs, since they are mainly courses that you're required to take outside the major. And, most importantly, we are able to make that tie with experiences like research, study abroad, and [...], and other related programs. That way, FAs can be seen as, like, experiences that you can broaden your interests with. And currently we're covering our second milestone, which is [...], arranging a time to meet with Dean Martin.
Jazz: Awesome. Thank you so much, Grace.
Isaac: Hello, guys. Um, for those of you who don't know [...]. I want to give you updates on what I've been working on. So, um, shout out to Grace and Rocio [...]. That's one of the issues we're working on. Another initiative, I want to shout out Ella. She's been doing great work trying to get Adulting 101 [...], and she's already kind of started, and pretty much should be running the next cycle. Another thing I've been doing is speaking with […] in Public Safety and talking about some of the underutilized resources that Public Safety offers and trying to bring more awareness to those, doing that via tabling and potentially SGA advertisement. I also met with another member from Public Safety about CRASE/Civilian Response to Active Shooter classes, as well as Rape Aggression Defense classes. They have also expressed interest in collaborating with SGA to promote their services and LiveSafe, that we did last semester. Also, they will be hosting Coffee with a Cop tomorrow at the Breezeway from around 11, so if you guys don't have class, I would highly encourage you to go stop by. Um, another thing I've been working on is I have a meeting with the deans about potential inequality and AI [...], so that is in a week and a half. And then lastly—or actually, I'm not on lastly—but Shreemann and I have gotten dumbbells in the Wolman gym. That's been an initiative we've been working on since last year, and so that's finally what we did. And then lastly, the Peabody Student Government Association has expressed interest in collaborating with us in working on a fine arts database where they collect kind of recordings from all the different fine arts groups that does [...], a cappella, jazz, and so that's a future initiative there as well.
Jazz: Awesome. [...]. All right, and Cole?
Cole: Hi, guys. I'm Cole. [...]. So through my work on the Student Services Committee, I am coordinating with the Rec Center to hopefully try and get some of the equipment more regularly fixed and kind of maintained better, but also about obtaining, like, gift cards and certificates for H’s Juice Bar, which is a dining location in the Rec, for future tabling and events. I also reached out to Housing about improvements at the Academy. I don't know anything definitive yet. You know, hopefully more going forward on that soon. And then I'm the Religious and Spiritual Life senator. So last week I went to the general meeting for InterVarsity, which is one of the main Christian organizations on campus, and I gave an announcement about my role, so they know that I'm available as a resource. And I'm coordinating with some of the other major religious and spiritual life organizations on campus as well to hopefully come to some of their events and let the people in those organizations know that I'm interested
Jazz: All righty. With that, we are going to head into a time just acknowledging that the time for Q&A and also the administrators to be here was short. And so we wanted to give space still to be able to have a conversation, especially if your senators, members of the public that are still here, would like to have a discussion. And so this is more so guided on any questions that we may have as an SGA, and depending on which general motion is put on the floor, that we may be able to talk about it. And so with that, we can talk about a discussion about safety and sexual violence on campus. Are there any motions? If not, we will go right on to the next, which is—
Demarri: Motion for a ten-minute moderated caucus.
Jazz: There's a motion for a ten-minute moderated caucus. Is there any second? Otherwise, it will be struck out.
[silence]
Jazz: All right. With no second on the floor for that, that motion has been struck down. Are there any other motions, or else we will go on?
Sophia: Motion for a five-minute moderated caucus.
Second: Demarri
Jazz: All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?
Aye: [many]
Nay:
Abstentions:
Jazz: So this is also, as Sophia said, a time for if there are any members of the public who have questions for SGA that we can answer, for SGA members to one another. Yes, Sophia. Sophia: So, yeah. I know this all kind of started because Cornell, and I really don't have much to say about the administration or, like, our response here, but students have been roofied every single month, and that hasn't changed because of it. And I don't know what they can do, but it is a culture thing. And I don't, as one person, know how to change culture on this campus, but I think we should still try.
Aarshi: Um, I wanted to ask, because, like, in many of the cases of sexual violence, it's, like, hard for accountability. It's difficult to see, like, accountability when only, like, a survivor/victim comes forward. I don't think, like, the school or, like, the other programs talk about it enough, or, like, what is, like, the school doing to create, like, a better environment where, like, ideally, like, the perpetrators of sexual violence would also, like, come forward and, like, admit, or, like, I guess, seek help and, like, I guess, like, admit and come forward also? So that I haven't, like, seen that many initiatives on campus. So I was just wondering—
Jazz: So, can you rephrase it? Or just distinguish?
Aarshi: Like, I was—because there aren't, like, that many initiatives, like, on campus, like, I guess, that, like, try to create an environment where, like, ideally, the perpetrators of sexual violence, like, also come forward and, like, admit to it or, like, confide in someone. Like, I don't see, like, that many initiatives or anything around campus for that, which is also, like, really helpful, like, in cases of sexual violence. So I was, like, wondering what the school is going to do about it or if, like, we should take our own initiatives to, like, I guess, address it.
Jazz: Are we writing down any questions like these? Okay, awesome. So that way we're gonna be able to get answers to questions like those, just to make sure that they go heard and answered. Nora?
Nora: Yeah, I'll just say quickly—and I know SARU yesterday collected questions; I typed those as well, but I won't go through all of them. Thank you, SARU people who were here and are still here. I think two things I want to uplift is, one, we talked a lot about repercussions for perpetrators, and our responses were about survivor-led processes, which I understand. I don't think anyone was against them. But I think the question of when a survivor chooses to go forward and they want repercussions for the perpetrator, what happens? And I don't feel like we got to that. So I think that is something that we really need to bring up. I also think they kind of threw the word “training” at us a lot, which sounds good. Online trainings don't work. They just don't. Like, people would not sit on Zoom and learn about how to do sexual assault prevention. So I think a simple thing that SGA works towards is: how do we move these trainings in person? That's, like, a very easy first step, especially for these groups that seem to be consistently [...]. Um, and I'll just throw them out there, that those groups are athletic groups and FSL groups. So how do you move these groups, who already have extra trainings, in person?
Jazz: Yeah. That's a good initiative as well, how to collaborate [...] to make sure that they're in person. Jackson.
Jackson: Uh, so I just want to underscore the things that Sophia and Nora have said. Um, I think that, you know, to try to think, what can we do in the student government organization, and what can we do to represent the students on the matter? I think one of the big questions is: do we know what students think about this? Do we know what—you know, we have this long thing, but do we have a larger way to understand how students at large would like to see how things change? You know, search online, and I would highly advise people to look at Johns Hopkins's climate survey from 2023. You can see that there are recorded testimonies of students, faculty, and even staff talking about how they faced sexual harassment or assault, and complaints about present processes. And that seems—you know, from what we heard today, well, that seems like those two things, you know, how could they both be true? I think we really need to be prepared to ask hard questions and have data to build our case. Because, like we said, training doesn't—you know, training does what training does. There's a limit to what that can do. I think if we want to ask about some more pervasive behaviors and maybe what leads to that, is it part of the pledging process? Is it that there's anything that goes unreported? Or that we don't know about, whether the university turns a blind eye to, that makes people more likely to engage in these types of behaviors? I think that these are questions that we should be able to bring up, or one of our representatives to bring up, and we should be prepared if we're going to meet with the university. And I yield the remainder of my time.
Nora: Point of information; What was the name of the survey?
Jackson: The 2023 campus climate survey, which was a survey that was commissioned by Johns Hopkins and was out of an Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Unfortunately, the two staff members who ran it are no longer with the university.
Jazz: Got it. Thank you, Jackson. Member of the Public.
Member of the public: Hi. Yes, thank you so much. I'm really grateful to get to be here in public today [...]. Um, there's—I want to say two things. One, I heard a question earlier about resources for perpetrators. I think that's, like, generally in the gender-based violence space, that's underutilized. But we could talk to the university about—I think there's, like, one or two anti-violence hotlines in the U.S.—and we could talk to the university about maybe adding those to the list of resources, just in case perpetrators want to work on their violent behaviors. Um, another thing: I thought when a member said there wasn't enough talk about FSLs or about athletics—um, and there's so much sociological research on how these are not, like, individual problems. These are cultural issues and the systems they promote. Um, like, for example, we know that there's anti-hazing training, and all of us who know someone in an FSL know that the anti-hazing training ain't doing nothing. So clearly, like, more training is not the solution. Um, I actually—I want to suggest, um, and it's been—there's a number of members of the public, but I have noticed, being in SGA meetings, that SGA is heavily financially supporting the organizations that we are currently discussing. And I just wanted to suggest to some people who are, like, more engaged SGA members, that might be something worth considering. I think a lot of members of the public are a little bit frustrated with SGA over that. And then I also want to highlight, on the campus climate survey Jackson mentioned, 80% of students who filled out that survey said they didn't use campus resources. So clearly there's some sort of disconnect too. So I feel like those resources were [...]. And The News-Letter has a piece every few years on how those resources suck and don't treat students properly. And, yeah, sorry, pardon my language, but yeah.
Jazz: Yeah, thanks so much. The motion has expired unless we have another motion to extend.
Demarri: Motion to extend five minutes.
Second: [...]
Jazz: All in favor, say aye. Any opposed?
Nay: Royce, Isaac, Veda, Paul
Jazz: Majority still voted aye. We're going to extend the motion. Kai.
Kai: Uh, yeah. I don't know about that, but I think I was a little dissatisfied with the fact that, like, in, like, seven minutes, they answered two questions. Um, I was wondering—like, honestly, the stuff we brought now, it's like, kind of [...], you know, programs [...]. I feel like we did not have the time and the ability [...]. There were several questions left on the speakers list that didn't get to be asked, and they introduced, like, a lot of time over programs they'd already talked about in the presentation. So my question, maybe, to Jazz and Shreemann is, like, moving forward, because I know we have a lot of administration meetings in the next couple months, what can we do to ensure that all our questions are answered and we're going to get, like, answers in a manner that is, you know, substantive]? [...]
Jazz: Thank you, Kai. I would say in the future, we are definitely, as you mentioned, going to have these separate offices come. It sounds like a lot of these questions are going to pertain to OIE, and so it is good that we are asking these now. We're going to get these ones that aren't answered sent, and then when they come back, these questions can be asked. In regards to, like, how do we hold them accountable to questions that may not be answered, it's a bit of what we have talked about before. These questions are being written now. They go into the notes. And I know for some, we're saying, “But how are we actually holding them to that?” We're gonna be able to ask those questions. And so these questions are gonna be sent, and then they are gonna come back. And so it is good that we have these relationships, that they get to come in and we do have that. But I do recognize that the ten minutes tonight was a lot of response rather than question, and that has been noted.
Shreemann: So it was also kind of directed at Jazz and I, but let's, together, before Tuesday, figure out what the main way to get the response is, whether that's [...] or sending questions in advance [...].
Jazz: Does that answer your question, Kai?
Kai: Yeah. Yeah, I [...].
Jazz: Great. Thanks, Kai. Andrei.
Andrei: Yeah, um, I think we said this, but I think even when they did answer some questions, they were not actually addressing the question. And it's one thing to just say, like, we're changing things and they work on this every day, but do they actually do anything? So I think that is especially important when talking about, um, rather than purely reactive approaches. And even their answer to that was not preventative. Even if, uh, bystander intervention or those kinds of approaches are maybe interrupting assaults in an early stage or just before it happens, prevention truly means stopping the root causes that are the things that are causing people to want to, like, commit violence or think doing it is okay in the first place. Even the trainings that they have right now that they say are preventative are not actually really preventative. It's still reactive, just a little bit earlier. And that's not—that's not good.
Jazz: Right. So what can we look into more to either partner or even just ask, like, what are these preventative measures, and to get to learning these questions a little bit more on point rather than maybe skirting around?
Andrei: Like, some of the, like, consent things are very important, but I think at a certain level, you can teach these groups—athletes, students—you can teach them what consent means. But, as your point, they know, and they can violate it intentionally. And therefore the problem is not just that they don't understand consent. [...]
Jazz: Um, I think that's cool. Thank you. We have 30 seconds left. Aishani?
Aishani: Yeah, okay, I'll try to make that. Um, as a lot of people have mentioned, as someone who has attended bystander intervention and as someone who has attended FSL training, I will say they do nothing. And so I would like to urge the OIE office to maybe rethink how those trainings are structured and additionally hold all the groups accountable, specifically for attending that training, if they are going to try to make it mandatory. I don't think I saw more than 20% of the fraternities at that training. Yeah, and they—they felt no pressure for being there. I don't know if they had a makeup one and if they all attended, but I will say it was majorly sorority and, um, pre-professional heavy. And I just don't think that those groups that are more likely to do these kinds of things were held accountable for not being at the training, regardless of if it does anything or not.
Jazz: Yeah, great points. It sounds like even out of that, we can also think about initiatives regarding partnership with students to see, like, how we can talk about engagement, as well as, we were talking about, like, are these actually helping? Like, to make sure that we're hitting topics that aren't actually being taken into account, and also how to make sure that students are going to those. The motion has expired. So with that, we are going to go into presentations from committee chairs unless there's another motion.
Jackson: There is—yes, more people on the speaker list, so can we extend the past ten minutes and the discussion by five minutes?
Jazz: Okay. But then I would say after this, just as first reading is capped to ten minutes, I would say we should cap this to fifteen. So if there is another motion [...] after this one. Okay. There's a motion to extend for five minutes. Is there a second?
Second:
Jazz: All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? [...]. Raise your hands when you say [...].
[…]
Demarri: I'm abstaining. [I’m embarrassed to not remember the people I was looking at]: Wait, Demarri, you can't— Demarri: Oh, we're not voting— [I’m embarrassed to not remember the people I was looking at]: Wait, did you—didn't keep us on?
[I’m embarrassed to not remember the people I was looking at]: That was the previous one.
[I’m embarrassed to not remember the people I was looking at]: Oh my God. You can't abstain without a reason.
Jackson: I don't think we have a rule of the body that is binding.
Demarri: It's a cultural—it's cultural. And I do have a conflict of interest.
Jazz: All right. Can we count how many said no? [...]. Majority votes yes. Yeah. Okay. We're gonna extend for five minutes. Noah.
Noah: All right. So I agree with what everyone is saying, that we need to update the nature of the training. But specifically, as a freshman that is expected to do the training, I feel like there's a culture around it, and it's something that's just—you have to check off on the checklist. So I'm curious about, like, in what ways we can change the culture, that it's something that's actually meaningful and we can get something out of it, and it isn't more of an assignment; it's something we can actually learn from.
Jazz: Definitely. And I think Veda is gonna have a few different bills that are also going to address that question, and we can come back to that as well, about how to have more of that on campus and how to get involved. Um, Julia.
Julia: Yeah, I think—I feel very [...]. Since I've been talking about, like, really focusing on culture, like our culture as a generation, and I thought, like, a practical solution to this is we could have, like, some small focus groups, like, generally talk about, like, when you are actually dating someone, right? Like, what are the kind of questions—like, what should we be kind of talking about early on? And, for example, like, what are the boundaries to which you feel safe? You feel safe doing it?
Or, like, I think, again, like, no matter how much [...] on the admin, like, at the end of the day, it's us all almost that are/could be the culture. And I think, uh, even if it feels vulnerable, like, um, a practical solution could be to impose these, like, small focus groups and have discussions around, like, what are some aspects of our current dating culture that we are confused about, that we want to talk about. And, um, like, it's [...]. That's just something I wanted to share, so what we could actually practically do.
Emin: Oh, there we go. So, yeah, I just wanted to also say, following up on the previous points about how the admin wasn't really answering some of the questions, I feel like they didn't really answer the 230-day question at all. They just kind of danced around by saying we can have one, two, three, or four meetings before the process even starts. So I kind of want to ask them about, like, what about those meetings is taking so long that the victim's, like, university life is being disrupted by administrative processes about this topic for almost a year? And, like, how many—just more specific information on how many meetings are being had on average before the filing occurs, how long each process takes, how long it takes to respond to each email, stuff like that. Just more specific.
Jazz: Oh. Member of the public.
Member of the public: All right. I think it might be helpful to give members of the public an open forum to express their opinions and use guiding questions, asking, “Hey, how will we protect each other? Where do we not feel protected?” Because I think right now a lot of the student body feels like, “I just don't know where to go to express this opinion,” and I end up talking about it with friends, but I don't feel like I'm being heard. And I think if there could be something from SGA or programming to say, “Hey, let's talk about this. Let's have a student-body-wide conversation,” it would be really helpful for students who kind of feel lost right now.
Jazz: Yeah, that's a great suggestion. Thank you.
Member of the public: No problem.
Nora: Yeah. Um, Cornell was not mentioned at all. Like, I wish I heard the words that, like, “someone was raped at Cornell, and that is why they're here,” not, like, going through issues, like, programs. Yeah, kind of my main thing.
And I was disappointed when people were saying that it was a shocking thing. I wasn't shocked by it, and I think that was kind of the problem. Like, this is happening everywhere, and we have evidence of it. So, like, what happened at Cornell, the rape is not something shocking at all, which is what I'm talking about. So I hope we all, like, use that language and have that understanding when we're talking about it.
Jazz: Last on the list with 20 seconds, Abraham.
Abraham: I have a concern/question. I feel like sometimes, like, when I ask a question, I also want to have a follow-up question, because I think, like, sometimes, like, my question gets [...], and so, like, being able to follow immediately rather than having to, like, go back into a list and, like, go back around, you know?
Jazz: Yeah. Usually when you have a follow-up, if you start straight away, we will recognize it, just as long as we're giving everyone enough time to be able to ask various questions. So usually a follow-up will be accepted. Otherwise, if people are not getting the time to speak, then we will get to move on. So I would just say, as an answer to that, it's as the conversation is moving and we'll pass on to people. All right. We have officially ended the motion. We are going to move into our next unfinished business, which is just a presentation from the committee chairs on what everybody does and what updates do they have. And so if I could just lead off with Veda.
<Committee Chair Presentations>
Veda: Hi, everyone. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Veda Kommineni, and I am the sophomore class president and also the chair of the Student Services Committee. So the Student Services Committee is, uh, [...], primarily to serve students with whatever they see fit. So anything that is reported to us, anything that students are talking about right now that is pressing, is what our committee strives to work on. The way that we split up our committee is into these different sections so that each member is in charge of being a liaison for a department. So, as you can see, we have a transportation liaison, an Office of Climate and Sustainability, housing and dining, health and well-being, financial aid, Public Safety, and so on. Our goal is also to bring awareness to what SGA does here by doing more public-facing events. So that would include any tabling events that you see at Breezeway or in Stuce, anything like that. Um, the way that we set up our committee is by assigning each person a department, like I said, and then everybody fills out this sheet where they talk about their goals for the year with that specific department. [...] did a great job filling hers out with event ideas. And then throughout the semester, we work on implementing those ideas. We also, again, want to make sure that we're doing a lot of tabling so that people know that our student government is very interested in what the student body has to say and that we are listening to them, because that is important to us. So, yeah, we would love if you would join our committee. We meet—um, right now we meet weekly. We're looking at meeting maybe from 7:15 to 8 p.m. on Thursday. So if you are interested in joining our committee, please let us know. It's a fun time. And does anybody have any questions?
Royce: Oh, yes, right. Wait, how do you join any committee? Like, what are you—
Jazz: Yeah. So, each senator, as well as each class president, is involved in two committees, unless they are the committee chair, in which they just chair that committee, and that is their priority. So you're receiving these committee updates so that we all know what is happening, which is beneficial because we don't always get to hear these things unless they're presented. But otherwise, you'll hear what all—there are seven committees—what each one does, and then you're gonna get the chance to talk to them afterwards as well, to see what times work, as well as what initiatives you'd like to be part of. That way you can join that. Good clarification. So with that, Student Services was our first one. We're going to go into our second with Finance. So, Peter.
Peter: Finance Committee has two main roles here in SGA. First of all is approving club budgets. So, approving club budgets—looks like, you know, any RSO on campus, not any, but most, one or two hundred organizations. If you want a role in approving their annual allocations or their grants throughout the year, that's what Finance Committee does. Also, if you have any, like, requests about what you think certain caps can be changed—like, should we let, you know, clubs spend more money on contractors or food or anything like that? That's what Finance does. We set those caps for all the clubs, you know, that we review, about one or two hundred clubs, and then we vote on those budgets and approve them. Within the SGA, currently, we do funding bills. So, like, you'll see some—I think—four funding bills today. But the bills are, you know, they're, like, anything that, if you, a senator, want to, like, spend money from our SGA account, you're gonna use a funding bill. So if you're on the Finance Committee, you're going to help decide: should we approve this? Is this too much? Should we make changes to those funding bills? Any issues like that. And this year we've already spent about $300,000, and we have about $200,000 more dollars to spend the remainder of the year. So that is what you'll be doing in Finance Committee. Our meetings are just before the GBM, 5:45–6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays. So if that time works for you and you guys think you'd like getting more involved with funding clubs or SGA initiatives, then join my committee.
Jazz: Okay. We're gonna move into our third committee, Civic Engagement. Jackson.
Jackson: Hello. Uh, so, I won't belabor the point. So I am Jackson. I'm a Disability Caucus senator, as well as the chair of the Civic Engagement Committee. Our committee leads SGA's engagement with the Baltimore community, local, state, and federal government, as well as other institutions that are part of civic processes. We meet on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Center for Social Concern building. Uh, if you'd like to learn anything more about what our committee does, um, one of our recent things was SGA's engagement with the student body on the National Call to Action from the Trump administration. That's a pretty good example of how we've been getting a lot of stuff through this year, as well as working with other committees. I see our Finance Committee chair, as well as our CSO chair, will come up soon. But, yeah, [...].
Jazz: [...] Committee on Student Organizations chair. Kevin: Oh, guys. My name is Kevin. I am the junior class president and the chair of the Committee on Student Organizations. CSO Committee—we recognize and support student organizations. And some of the things we have done so far, obviously, as you know, now we're close to the deadline of the application of prospective student orgs, so we have been supporting them through various avenues, including the recent prospective student organization fair that happened last Friday, which is modeled after SIF, but for prospective student orgs to find more interested members. And it was quite a success. We had estimated probably more than 120 people attending, and [29] prospective student orgs that registered to participate. And in the future we plan to continue this tradition, and we'll get more tables, get more ice cream. And we are also going to start working on the evaluation of these prospective student organizations in the near future. And we are also working with the Civic Engagement Committee, as well as the Finance Committee, to distribute the National Call to Action survey. Uh, specifically our committee is focused on bringing student organizations into our meetings to get their take on this National Call to Action survey. In the past few weeks, we already had student organizations join us at our committee meetings, which are every Wednesday—7 to 8 p.m.—8 to 9 p.m., yes, uh, in BSC 104. And this week we will have two student organizations or student groups who are going on. And just to add on to Jazz's initiative, right now we have a total of, I think, five student organizations or student groups who are in contact with us for this National Call to Action survey, as well as two that we are in contact with, and we will probably finalize some of them later this week.
Jazz: All of this information is going to be sent to you. You will not have to memorize these times. They will be sent. With that, I'm going to hand it over to Health, Safety, and Sustainability. Tanisha.
Tanisha: Hi, everyone. My name is Tanisha. I'm the senior class president, chair of Health, Safety, Sustainability, which is also HSS. And our committee does anything related to well-being, health, safety/sustainability on campus. We meet at 8:15 p.m. on Sundays. And if you're interested in our initiatives, we kind of have a few different clusters of things that are going on. We have some mental health initiatives that we hope will relate to sexual assault awareness on campus. We have some cool sustainability initiatives, and a few other ones are nutrition tabling coming up in the next few weeks and expanding Narcan around campus. So it's a pretty diverse committee, I think, really, that improves the health and well-being of students on campus. Yeah, I hope some of you join with us.
Jazz: Thank you so much. And now we're gonna pass it over to Isaac.
Isaac: Hello. My name is Isaac. I am the chair of Academic Affairs, and also a sophomore class senator. Um, basically, in Academic Affairs, you—or, you know, people who have problems or, um, want to change things regarding, like, KSAS or WSE, foundational abilities, kind of overloading, anything related to academics and your kind of academic student experience here at Hopkins—that would go in this committee. Specifically, we're kind of split into teams in the committee. Each team kind of takes on an initiative. You can always bring your own ideas, and we encourage that, um, regarding initiatives. And so we're just kind of a group that meets together. Um, we meet on Saturdays from 3 to 4 every other week, and we just discuss these. And then we do a lot of work meeting with, um, the deans of KSAS and WSE to talk about these issues as well. So.
Jazz: Last but not least, I hand it over to Internal Affairs chair, Shreemann.
Shreemann: All right, guys. Um, so in addition to being Jazz's minion, a.k.a. the vice president of the Senate, I have the privilege of serving as your chair of Internal Affairs. So, little committee updates first. We have a new vice chair of Internal Affairs because of CLERPA, so that is Cole over there. Yeah. Okay. That's, like, the committee update for now. A little description of Internal Affairs. So it is co-chaired by myself and Student Body Vice President, which is Sumi over there. Our job is basically the Constitution, the bylaws, the procedural rules of the Senate, and Robert's Rules of Order. So just for context, that's 53 pages of bylaws, 11 pages of the Constitution, 9 pages of the procedural rules, 1,137 pages of Robert's Rules. So we kind of—we kind of have to know a lot. I'm not saying any of us know all of that. I definitely don't. But that's kind of—trying to keep these meetings in order is our main job. So one of the things I've been working on now is we're looking at suspension of the rules and then moving into closed sessions. So we found that there are some inconsistencies and not enough information in the bylaws about what we do during closed session, so we're working on that a little bit. Also, disciplinary marks are a thing, and impeachment, discipline, accountability is also designated to the Internal Affairs Committee. I just realized that—no, never mind, I know what that is. That was an act called Clarifying Legislative Roles and Procedures Act, and that kind of just did a review of a bunch of things. But the Constitution and bylaws are now fully updated according to all legislation that we have passed. Please use the version that says “Amended September 18th, 2026,” the specific date. There's another one that says “Amended September 2026.” Don't use that. It was not amended September 2026. Lying to you. And our meetings are Sundays from 3:30 to 4:15. So if you are—honestly, if you're pre-law, I'm not pre-law, but if you're pre-law, this might be a cool one for you. Or if you're interested in keeping order in the meetings and accountability and making sure SGA is actually doing things. So that's Internal Affairs.
Jazz: Thank you so much. Okay. You are gonna be able to find all of these committee chairs. They might stay for a couple minutes, but you're also able to email them, and then we will also get you connected. And so there is a bit of time that can go by. We would say about a week, and then you would join these committees. [...] Yeah, we'll email it to you, and then you're gonna rank them. And then you typically get put into your top choice regardless, and then just based on availability, then you get placed otherwise. So it's usually—you get placed into your top two. We always make sure that you get number one unless other circumstances come up, but otherwise you get to join the committees that you wish to serve on. Okay. We are now going to do a tradition that started this year. We're going to do Senator of the Month.
<Senator of the Month>
Demarri: Motion to postpone to next—
Jazz: To next meeting?
Demarri: Yes.
Second: Shreemann
Jazz: There's a motion to postpone Senator of the Month to next week. There was a second by Shreemann. All in favor of postponing by one week to next week, say aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions?
Aye: [many]
Nay:
Abstentions:
Jazz: We will postpone Senator of the Month to next week. All right, so you guys can be thinking about who you're gonna nominate. You need to think about it. Okay. We're gonna head into first reading then—
Peter: Wait, Jazz, I do a motion—I do a motion to table until next week, and then we can just review it in Finance Committee, so we can just send it straight to second reading next week.
Jazz: So that worked. Okay, so Peter has said that there's a motion to push this to next week so that way it'll go through Finance and then go straight to second reading next week. Any seconds?
Second:
Aye:
Nay:
Abstentions:
Jazz: Okay. Nutrition tabling, Tanisha.
<Nutrition Tabling>
Tanisha: Hi, everyone. So I think Finance already passed this, which is why it seems like a reading. But basically HSS wants to have a table on October 30th to kind of educate some students about nutrition. So we're gonna have some, like, nutrition infographics, and then, um, that, like, specifically focus on fiber. I don't think enough students get fiber. And then we'll have some, like, trivia questions where, if they get them right, they either get a little thing of fruit that varies, um, […], or, like, a fiber-heavy granola bar. I think the total is over $200, and our next steps would just be to order this and Nora to book the Breezeway time. But, yeah, any questions about that or any motions?
Demarri: Motion to pass.
Second: Tola, Shreemann
Aye: [many]
Nay:
Abstentions:
<Consent Banner>
Veda: Hi, all. Like I said earlier, the Student Services Committee is trying to focus on things that are important to the student body, and while this isn't much, we're hoping that we can display a banner that students are able to sign with the two prompts, “Consent looks like...” and “I build a safer community by...” And then, like, [...], we're hoping that we can get groups, either different student organizations or individuals, to sign things there, and then display them in a space that is public, like, accessible. So either outside FFC or in the student center. And the only thing that we're asking for is the banner and the markers. We just wanted to make sure that students feel supported and that we're acknowledging that this happened, because other than the JH Broadcast message, there hasn't really been anything else.
Tola: Motion to pass.
Second: Demarri, Shreemann
Aye: [many]
Nay:
Abstentions:
<Black Student Photo Shoot and Networking Event>
Nifemi: Hi, everyone. I'm Nifemi. Black Caucus representative for the school year. And for one of my initiatives, I was planning on having—like, making an Instagram page that highlights everything Black about Hopkins. So Black students, Black organizations, Black faculty/professors. So basically, to introduce the page, I wanted to create, like, a photo shoot where all the Black students on campus come together, and basically it will be also, like, a networking event. I did meet with 20 of the Black orgs on campus out of the 24, and basically they showed interest in this as well. And they actually gave me the idea of making it a networking event. So that's where the food comes in as well, to allow them to, like, just talk to each other as well while also, like, taking the pictures for the page. So this is just the funding bill to request to have, like, the photo shoot and the networking event. But, yeah, any motions or any questions?
Jackson: Point of information; I just want to make sure that, um, just to make sure it's with the Constitution, this would be open to any student, correct?
Nifemi: Yes.
Aarshi: Point of information; Like, you said this was a networking event, so would alumni also be able to come and participate in this event, like, from these organizations too?
Nifemi: Yes. Like, alumni is able to come, and who wants to come is able to come.
Aarshi: Okay. I just wanted to know if, like, alumni was also able—
Nifemi: Yeah.
Demarri: Motion to pass.
Second: [some people]
Aye: [many]
Nay:
Abstentions:
<Announcements>
Jazz: Um, announcements. If you're a freshman, please do feel free just to stay, like, two minutes, just so we can introduce [...].
Jackson: Oh, this is great. I'm going to say it first that way. [...]. Just say—the feedback on the National Call to Action is due on Friday. Please send something. You can literally go through the entire form and say, “Yeah, I support SGA's stance on this.” That's all you have to do. I would ask that you do more, but every response that we get is a greater voice than we have in talking to the administration. So just take five minutes. Put it in your calendar right now to spend, like, five minutes or ten minutes to fill it out. We would really appreciate it.
Jazz: Please fill out the National Call to Action.
Tola, Shreemann, Demarri: Motion to adjourn.
Jazz: There is a motion to adjourn. Is there a second?
Second: [many]
Aye: [many more]
Nay:
Abstentions:
Raw
7:10
Jazz: thank you for geing here tonight, thank you so much to admin for taking time to be here, thank you for willing to present and have aq & a q&a, we officially began at 7:10, we will have roll-call…
…
Excellent, thanks everyone. for the next 30 minutes, our admin will be presenting and give q&a, 20 mins of presentation, 10 mins of q&a, members of the public who would like to engage, raise your hand, shreemann will…
if you need to step out at any time we will have members at the back… if you need a moment at any time..
thank you, i am turning over to vprovost hernandez
hernandez: good evening everyone..
[]
thank you for giving us some time, just want to check in did everyone get the email on friday…
the email is [] we wanted to follow up, real-time, that message was signed by 4 different offices, [], we have membersfrom each of these offices as as a team we create… the objectives of today are ensuring that you all know the steps, the process (what goes on with oie and public saffety) on how reporting sexual assault happens, as well as inform on bit and also have time and the end to engage with questions, i have been told we have a hard tstop at 30 minutes, since you all have a busy agenda.
when folks come up, we would like to address, but this is not hte only conversation [...] it is also secure your nest, blue jay safety month, in conjuction with this there are other programs in the month, but would laos like to talk to students to say your wellbeing is important to us, health, and if whenever, you would like additional training for . does that sound okay? i shall turn it over to…. who would like to go first? I think oie… ok julia, and if speakers could introduce themselves….. and linda
julia: i am the interim assistant vice provosta nd title ix operator
boyd: oie provost
julia: we have slides, but we would like to give you a brief overview, as for what happens if you need to report tsomething ot oIE, our office oversees the reports of the entire university that come through.
boyd: we shall go through this real-quickly…. [ mic please]
that one work? okay…
These are the policies taht oIE oversees, justa f ramework; we are focusing on smp&p, and without getting into all the details, these are the conduct which are prohibited by our procedures.
and what we wanted to talk to you about is what happens when we receive a report. i start julie will jump in; we get reports in a lot of ways, directly, from faculty, online reports, anonymous + identifying, howeverw e get the report, we want to know people have infomraiton about how to get/reach their options and get support; so when we get a report, we generally especially from an employee email containing who oie is, as well as resources such as measuress, policies, and documents we have which provide information; goal is to let people know they have access to these resources, and they can speak to oie; we do not force people to speak to oie, and if it is a case of sexual violence, we connect them with campbell so they may decide what involvement oie has; this first contact is about providing information/options; often, we do not here back from people right away especially if it came through a responsible employee, but perhaps someone saves the information, and would later like to know what this process looksl ike; we may try other methods of reaching someone
julia: when someone does decide to speak with us we can have a number of different convrsations; we dfer to the impacted indviiduals on how our meeting should run; we can talk exclusively about measures, or you sexpecerienced something that caused truancy, and you'd like an extension on an assignment; we can tell you about your rights/ability to move forward with your rights; we have an adjudicative process governed by federal/state law; it takes a bit of time to explain how it works, so we will wexplain how we shall discuss how we are going to proceed
there is no time limit to filing with our office; though soon ier is better, as witnesses can still be on campus, or your memory will beb etter; generallyw e can be with students
what i was describing was the inspection process, as well as assessing injurity to the greater community, and if you do decide to move forward, we must determine what procedures apply; there are 2 different procedures; there is sexual harassment assement and []. the investigative process is similar for buth, though the judiciative is different; this is something we hperhaps can teach a law class on, but we can teach this to anyone who wants to know how these work, so anyone may make an aappointment to learn
boyd: you will hear this from different folks tonight, one of the reasons why we want to send information and ensure people have it is that regardless of whetehr interested in formal process/investigation/specifics, they are entitled to supportive measures, such as the academic consideratinos, as well as escorts, many things here, and someothing we can tailor specifically; there are a lot of different situations where we can make someone feel more comfortable and safe, even without geoing o through any investigative process; this is osemthing we puti n the initial investigative email; often people will have our process end on the 2nd part of the slide, because someone may decide not to go through with an einvestigative process
julie: so title ix sexual harassment, as i said, there are many different regulations under our policy; it has a particular
i.e. quid pro quo, fi you do't go with a date on me, you won't get in a, though it also includes assault and stalking; what ayou are more likely aware of are teh VAWA; assault, stalking, violence
boyd: int he prior slide; the full world of sexual misconduct has been prohibted; when the trump regulations effected in 2019 and came back in 2025, those regulations narrowed the requirements of what schools must respond to; what hopkins and other institutions did is creat etheir own; if what happens now is under the trump admin regulations, we must follow their process; otherwise our own
i don't think we need to get inot the details here, but those are just sthe specifics, of whether we are in the trump admin vfor sexual h….
here is another slide, we are running out of time, but these are the different setps in each step fo the procedures from title ix sexual harassment vs other sexual misconduct
i think when you leave tonight, about the OIE, we are a compliance office, the governance we experienceis from laws that are more complex/arduous than our choice; but our job is staffed with people who want to help every step of thew ay, and who will wexplain every step of the way, and explain what you are getting into;
we can have as many meeting with you about whhat that will look like; and you have lots of agency in the measures used, and then combing, there is lots of flexibility
boyd; we know it can ound confusing, youc an reach out, anonymously even, do not have to make a report to learn about the process or find what the measures are, not always necessary to investigate. thank you for this opportunity to speak
fernandez: we're gonna ask public safety to come up next; we will continue and have questions up next, and this is an important topic; and this is not het only conversation, very important
calvin smith: good evening… i am [] thibard is not here he sends his regards, vice president of (jaron) depty chief of support services
jraon: thakn you for this opportunity to speak with you; this necessary but challenging experience; many of us have been impacted by sexual assault, and how brave you all are from some of you speaking and being in this room
much of what we do is minimiznig future trauma to that future survivor; there is no wrong door wehther that is calling 911, or dispatch cetner, or talking to a police officer; you don't have to memorize the roles, whther those be university resources, helping us make the dcision of what you would like; you don't have to memory what public safety vs jhpd does; you can call us and connect you with oie, or bjhst, whatever will help you get the best response; callers may give as much information;
sometimes we get emails or calls from individuals who are survivors from 8months or eyars ago; they can report on their own timeline;emphasize that a delayed report does not decrease the importance of addressing a survivor
deputy chief of : the primary work fo jhpd is to propiritize the survivors and ensrue they control te show; when we get calls we do not tell them where to go, they dicde; whether it be oie, bpd, whichever wayt he survivor wants to go ; that is our primary function; we do not pressure anyone in any way, it is up to the survivor completely where to go; and we ensure that happens; whether it is going to court, getting pcourt orders, or speaking to student afafirs; and as he said, we do not need you to know what door to go on, go to any of those here and we inform you what you can do
and johns hopkins, we ensure that when you hand report we don't just tell you where to go; we help; we've gone to court with affiliates; because sometimes when you go to another law agency you are simply another survivor, but we want to ensure you get the care you deserve; thank you, and if you have any questions, oh i suppose we will get to that part i don't want to jump
hernandez: thank you elise i'm going to ask you up here, many of you may know elise
elise: my name is elise, i am with helath/promotion fo wellbeing, my team does 2 important thing; my team is confidaentioal resources for studetns afacing any kind of gender-based violence as my colleague jjulie spoke aboutl ; we are here to help students in any process they are have been involved; you may have seen this on places on campus; this is the we listen you decide, this is where we link you to any place you'd like, other places listed are religious services, public safety…..
ours is not 24/7 but the sexual assault/[] is
i'd like to takl to you about hat my team does when we meet; surior-led problem sovling
the reason we chose this is that students know that we don't have to report; since we are confidential…
except int he case of abuse of a minor by an adult, this it true for every registeredi n maryland
we can also help with things like protective order, navigate barriers coming up in education that are related to any kind of GBVP, so fi someone is having trouble studying for an exam, or navigatinga part of the campus, we can speak to any part without divulging information to help the students; if any students does want to go forward with processes, we csupport this; anything a survivor might need to help their education
the second thing my team does is education: we have bit…. somet hings that come out of our office is BIT, you all have done this, the consent cmapaign, the i listen, i ask…. you may have seen this this comes out of my office; we arslo do healthy comunciation ; we also do surfvor support campaigning; if we on't halready have a program for seomthing, we are haeppyto help craft; so that's everything my team does, we are aopen to questions
fernandez: we are going to open to questions
jazz: i just want to say a few words, this does not go into 10 minutes
shall be moderated caucus… member of the public…
… when that time is up all quesitons will be finished, otherwise a resource vailaable tonight if you wish to ahve questions answered; to our senators with the questions we ask we are holding ourselves accountable for repseresiting the student body; should not be questions just for ourselves but also for those impacted in this room and not in the room
Demarri: motion for a 10 minute moderated caucus second: Tola, …
Natalie: Hi, thank you for presenting. One question, i appreciate the resources; one thing I have seen is reactively supproting the survivor once they experience harm; i was wondering about preventing iharm; much research pertains to workplace environment; what kind of things can be helped culturally?
fernandez: will pass to [julie?]
elise: one of the things is BIT; it is a 2-hour long program, we take a public-health model, those of you premed may recognize the stages of intervention, there the first part is 1st community change; we speak without claiming perpretrator or victimhood in the audicen, though this is statistically true; every new student has to go through thisi training, in grad student, we are working with school of nursing to have this requried as well.
4 hours is much, pushback as you might hear, but being staunch on this is great.
the red zone you also know, is how we inform about the highest rate time across universities
our consent campaign is diferent from others because we ask the young people we talk to to know what the legal and policy bar is for consent and raise that bar; we want them to know this and be higher than it. in our program we ask that everyone be centered in thse situations autonomy, joy, and pleasure; whatever happens here, then consent, pleasure, etc. is considered here; so we give our students an opportunity to [
we also domuch about helathy relationships, october we're also doing clothing line programs; sorry i am talking a lot
hernandez: the education piece is really improtant elsise is also talking about things that can be provided to any student, in the course of the entire year
abraham: this is mainly for OIE; it look like at their lated report, the average day is 230 to close sexual assault investigation up from last year; do we know what is taking so long, and what steps can be taken to improve
linda: very good questions. we are very aware that our timelines are long; we do much to shorten; wahat you are looking at, the very day we receive thereport, from whatever source, from safety, responseible report, all the way to the end, investigation, adjudication, and any appeal; there are a lot of phases to the process; this is required by law; when we follow law….. when we have the other ones in the gray as you say by the trump administration, with crossinvestigations, hearing, there are many seteps taken; we know it can be painful for the process to go on and on; we attempt to provide updates as it feels best for them
we have situations sometimes when the person doesn't want emails; so we instead upload to onedrive and provide link so they ay look themself. sometimes they ask for 2 weeks, or ask that they only recieve a update when reached out to
another thing is that it must be thorough; when we're talkign to someone who rought a complaint, and they think there are witnesses we should pseak to, or evidence we should reveiew, or inforamtino from the unierisyt; we try to be very throughou and as our througouh invesaigation, we must also talk about the accused individual, and hear their response, and if the complaint eends, the coplainer may rpvodie an opporutnity for another meaning, so they can have the option/opporutnity to further respond; we also show thm fmore information so they ahve the information necessary to respond; in every case of sexual assault there is a report so that all parties can comment on the report;
there are mnay parts, we try to expedite this
i will also add that the day we report is much earlier before we begin the process as we must meet someone; many options they might want; it may be many meetings before we dicee how to begin the prcess
it is robust, so we want people to speak and hear so they know they can have confidential access to information, and as julie said, there's no infomration
jazz: at elast 3 more questions in the board
fernandez: jazz can u clarify, questiona nd quck answer or [...]
jazz: quick is best, 3 questions can be answered by senators
veda: thank you so uch, what does the timeline look like from the perpetrator's sperspective; what immediate action is taken against someone, how long until declared closed case
julia:... finding out if they even watn to speak to us, we need very speific information that we put in a written notice. typically, reported is not even aware oie is envolved; we are primarily focused with just providing information; once the investigation starts, both are informed……. a case closes when there are been a full adjudicative process; there has been a report; they ahve had opportunities to comment; they have been given to a pecision marker, there is an opportunity to appeal, the members hear that is closed
the other thing you may have been asking is interim measures; when an individual is deciding to move forward… optinos liiek no contact orders, we can consider risk assessment if interism suspension is needed, we can create measures to put distance between victim and perpetrator, very different measures
boyd: one of the things missing is that…. one reason title ix was under flock was it was not survivor-based; previously there was no choice, and it is important that there is option from the complainant who may be in danger whether toinform the accused; i just wanted to say that…
royce: do your departments focus on doing anything different for
jazz: we can motion for another 5 minutes, if that's okay with admin, we'd like members of the pubilc to also be able to ask questions
nora: motion to extend
jazz: 5 more minutes
julie: we are always making changes to our program based on what we think students need; making sure it's not only compliant legally, but also refletive of best practices acquired from information through thoing through this many ties
the information our of cornell, is very shocking, but those on this side of the room, we are used; we are trying to work always to continue, make things more interesting…j…. engage with studetns in ways that are more memorable
jazz: thank u. member of public
member of public: regarding jh broadcast, the inclusion of blue jay safety month felt inappropriate for many; many of the resources included were not applicable; i don't want to assume your intention, can you explain the process/reasoning for putting blue jay safety month on there
hernandez; the reason blue jay safety was put there was
last year it was a whole month, now it is a whole month, with intential training and education, including gagainst sexual violence and assault; we want to ensure students were aware of this other possible resource, in addition to the other offices which exist; we want students to know that these things are available; this was the only reason it was included; to help students be aware
elise: honestly, a blind spot on my part, my team and I are going to be in every on eof the safety… i hear you, this did not land well, i think I was thinking in my head, what can we do in this time; the thought was what details/resources may be included and available?
natalie: i'd like to follow up on my previous question; it's awesome to hear the ways in which this office pushes
i understand oie is limited as it requires the survivor to come forward… but that doesn't prevent leed, student affairs, or others from stopping events; fraterneties only have about an hour of hazing training, this is off the top of my head, but the thing is there is going to be people at the bottom of a power hierarchy, especially women/genderminorities, perpetuating harm, i want to know how []
herandez: i can speak on this; in fact all teachers/faculty have these knowledge and workshops…. it also means our offices are always []. we also do have trainings for offices, fraterieistis and soroties, dorms, residenta advisors….
this is serious for all of you, for survivors in the room, we are thinking about this all the time
i think what i also hear in your question is that how do we show students this is always being enforced and taught; it's not a one-time the first time you come in, it's ongoing training that we feel very seriously about
we also want to ensure that you hear that if you have an rose whoere you think that this training wiould be helpful, we want this to be more prevalent
who else should be going through mandatory trainings? there is much work here already
jazz: is there a way to access these resources
hernandez: you don't need to know what office to contact; elise is a confidential reporter….
we just want you to know that there is an interconnected web of support; any of us will ensrue the students knows what they need
jazz: thank you so much, all of you, for coming out of tonight. admin discussion time is over, but we will have a later discussion about this for senators… others we will allow
shreemann: poi: if you want to move where there's more room feel free
jazz: follow up questions you did not have answered feel free to reach out to the question on the baord it is mine, please don't feel that you were not heard if you did not ask a question, we want [...]
i'd like to say thank you to all those in this conversation, wehther you had questions……. thank you . with that, we are going into our next convening business, the swearing in of different members, starting with our advisor tekeya Peterson
for those of you who don't know this is chief justice felix titre, this is the leader
tekeya: i tekeya [] do solemnly swear .. <script>
jazz: and with that we will now invite the freshman to be sworn in!
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FSBP: Royce Willis Class Senators: Class Programming Council
jazz: we can take a picture … ok i can take it
jason: say let's go hopkins
jazz: i'd like to say programming you do not have to show up to the gbms of senate, ti is not mandatory, though for senators an dpresident yes this is mandatory
demarri: motion to approve the agenda
second: shreemann
we will start wth cabinet reports
jason: first off, one more round af applause efor our freshmen… congratulations again to those who were newly elected, different areas of focus we'd like to pursue this year; sumi and i spoke about this and other members of exec; eperience, life, and engagement; we want to engage more with conversations like through the email; we discussed this potential coffee chat/hour where we can discuss with any ember of body; we want to create dialogue spaces; it is very important for us to not just represent our interest, but also what hte student body wants; we want to also elevate the student experience with dining…… we would also like to elevate morale with flag football like last weekend; we hope to see you at more events
if you turn around that is hannah; she is basically the director of programming; she has spearheaded talent show along with grace; we should be supporting them more, both at events and things they get involved in so if we ould give them around of appleause; []... follow through together. welcome to sga
sumi: congrats to royce kevin kevin gabi ;
if you guys are aware of our groupme, for the senators, we would like for senators to be engaging int he groupme; if there's anything you know going on in the group me say it so all senators know and we can spread across campus
nora: thank you for being here, welcome new members of the sga; secretary responsbiilities, will be going who here is here at the end for attendance, not who may have left; i do think we got a little whiplash from what we were just speaking about to swearing in, so i hope you are okay from that. soone of the best things you can do is beign conversation from outside and bring them here. so when you hear from outside you can brin gthose things here
amy: based on our event grant approvals today, our spending is at 317K-ish out of 512k confirmed; that's 62% spending for the year, of undecided isngificance
grace: hi as jason mentioned earlier there is the atlent show on the 17th it will be in shriver at 7; we also have the sga fall retreat coming uy, currently being planned, a morning activity, then we will provide lunch from everyone, then afternon activity; catering looks like will be ekiben, if you have any dietary restrictions, please gtive
sienna: none
jazz: we'd like to be able to round up the discussion from earlier so if you have any questions, you will have opportunities
many of senators havebeen having wonderful initiatives, one thing i will ask is that you all are ccing execs so that we an see and push as necessary; so admin can see what you are up to; other than that we will have further conversation tonight, and thank you all for being here. with that, we will go with advisor support. charles stepped out turjing to tekeya if any
tekeya: none
jazz: ok, going to reports
grace wang: for the academic affairs initiatifes, i am assisting rocio with course manuals initiative; our first was having a back and forth with asking what the fas mean clearly and giing students a proper understanding, since they are seen as courses taken outside of your major; also able to connect fas with experiential; so they can b
and currently we are on our second milestone, we are arranging a tiem to mean with dean martin
isaac: hi guys, thos eof you who don' tknow, i am chair of acadmeic affairs, a few updates, shouout out to AA they are doing aazing work as grace said, another initiative i'd like to shout out is ella's, trying to get a calss called adulting 101; she's already gotten everything up and running, should be takable in next semster; i've also been meeting iwth [] to find underused resources; i also met with another member of public health crave and domestic violence defense; also about promoting serv8ces using livesafe; also there will be hosting coffee with a cop fat the breezeway tomorrow from 11 if you don't have class highly sugest you show up; i ahve a meeting also with deans in a week and half about inequality and ai possibility; also shreemann and i have gotten dumbells in the wolman gym, finally completed, the peabody government association has expressed interest in in working with us to have fine arts collections, such as acapella, ….
cole: hi guys i'm cole; keep it ibrief, through the work in student services committee, workign with rec to get better working utilities, as well as gift cards for the juicys bar in the rec forfuture tabling and events, also talking to housing about future imporovements at the academy, nothign definitive yet, i am also religious and spiritual-life senator; i gave an announcement of my role at the general meeting; i am also cooperating with other religious groups letting them now I will attend and will be a member
jazz: znd with that, we will acknowledge thatt time was short earlier; …. may be guioded by; any motion
demarri: motion for a 10 minute moderated caucus
seconds: [none]
tanisha: 5 minute moderated caucus second: demarri aye: [many]
jazz: as said, this is a time where members fo the pbulic can also have things
sophia: i know this started with cornell; i know that there has been a student rufied every month and cornell has not changed that; i don't now how, but i think we should try with solving the culture;
aarshi: i want to ask how … what is the school doing to create an environment so perpetrators come forward, so
jaz: can you rephrase it
aarshi: i don't see initiatives which enable perpetrator to come forward, i was wondering if the school should allow …
nora: i met with saru to collect questions, thank you for being here; i think one thing… the question of when a survivor comes forward, and they want repercussions what can be done; i also think they threw the word training a lot at us; trainings don't work. how do we move these trainings in person. especially for this groups that seems to be outputting sexual violence; i'll just throw them out at psychologically are, athlete groups and fsl; how do we move
jazz: goodoie
jackson: i just want to underscore sophia and nora; as sga what can we do
i would highly advise people to search 2023, even faculty admitting to experiencing…
training does what training does. what leads to that? is it part of the process
nora: poi: repeat
jackson:
natalie: i am very grateful to be here ; i did hear a question about perptrators, perhaps anti-violence resources, for those who want to work on their violent behaviors; there's so much research on how this…
clearly more training is not the insulation, this is presumptive of me, that … there are
demarri: motion to extend Nay: royce, isaac, veda, pual
kai: i was dissatisfied with admin in using 7 minutes ….. maybe my question to jazz and shreemann is how can we ensure we are getting all of our questions answered
jazz:
shreemann: jazz and i can, before tuesday,
andrei: even when they did answer some questions, they did not address the root of the question…. do they actually do tese things everyday?, …. even if BIT prevents, prefvention is actuall stopping people from thinking committing violence in the first place; even the
jazz: perhaps ask, what are these more preventative measures
andrei: sometimes they know/believe they can violate them intentionally
aishani: as someone who has attended bit training, having attended fsl training, they do nothing; i would encourage oie to do more; i don't think i say more than 20% of the fraternities are there
jazz: we do/should be involved in properly asking
noah: can you hear me? i hear with what everyoneis saying, as someone who is a freshman, there is a culture as something that is just a checklist… how can it be something we work on
jazz: ab
julia: i think, i feel very aligned with students; focusing on culture as a genration; a practical solution could be focus groups, genuinely talking, for example, when you are actually dating, what are the questions you should be asking; sort of boundaries on what you feel safe; at the end of the day it is us who could be the assaulter or the survivor; even if it feels vulnerable, a practical solution could involve having a focus group, perhaps considering dating culture what we are confused about, and what can be practically done
emin: following up on the previous points on admin not answering questions; the 230 day question was sort of hand-waved; i kind of want to ask them, what about meetings takes so long that questions make victims have hundreds of days of not having resolution ….
member of public: i think it might be helpful to give members of the public open forum; some members of the student body do not know …. it woudl be very helpful for individuals who don' tknow
nora: keep this quick; cornell was not mentioned at all, i wish i heard the words "someone at cornell was raped" it was sort of tip-toed around, i was sort of disappointed when a member said "this is shocking" it was well-known to happen
abraham: general, brief, something really help might be a question with a follow-up, there can be
jazz: usually a follow up will be accepted, but other times it can simply move on
ok we have officially ended the motion, simply a presentation from committee chairs on what they do and what
veda: i am veda, sophomore classp resident, also chair of student services
anything that gets reported to us, the way we split up our commitee, each member is repsonsiblef or being a liason.
..
lots of tabling so our students know what we are up to
so yeah we currently meet weekly, we are looking to meet biweekly, if you are interested in joining our committee, and does anyone have any questions?
royce: how do join lol
jazz: each senator as well as class president will be involved in a committee unless chair of one; we receive these updates so we all know; what each one does.
so, with that, finance, turning to peter
Peter: 2 primary jobs, first approving club budgets, if you want to roll in moving, also if you have requests about whether certain caps should be cahnged, we set those, vote on them, and approve them; i think we have 4 funding bills today; if a senator wants to spend money from our account, you are a senator on this side; and this eyar we have already spent 317k; our meetings are just before gbm ; if you are interestid in meetin, so if you are interested, then join finance comittee
civic engagement next!
jackson: hello, i won't belabor; i am jacson the disability and caucus chair, as well as commitee of civic engagement chair; our group works with institutions involved in civic processes; we meet in the scenter for social concern; most recently national call of action , as well with working on finance chair and cso chair
jazz: thank you
kevin: comittee on student services on ; we support sutdent organizations, some of the thigns we have done so far is; we are close the tthe deadline of prospective student orgs; …. before prospective members, it was quite of success, likely more than over 120 attending, and have 19 orgs registered to participate; in the future we plan to continue this tradition; we will get more table more icecreams, we will start working on the evaluation of these student orgzaniations (prospectives), and we are also wokrin gwith civic engagement comititee and finance committee to distribute the national call of action; specfiically distributing national call of action, our committee if focused on getting orgs in our meetings to talk about it; our committee meetings are every wednesday 8-9 bsc 404; this week we will have 2 student organizations who will join us and just to add on to jackson's initiative we have a total of i thin 5 student organizations/groups whoa re in contact with us; we are inconcatct also with others with whom we will finalize later this week.
jazz: handing ot over to health safety and sustainability
tanisha: i am the senior class president HSS; oru committee does everything related iwth HSS on campus; we meet at on Sundays, we have some mental health initiatives that we hope will related to sexual assault around capus ;working on narcan around campus, anything for the wellbeing around campus, hope some of you join
jazz: onto academic affairs
isaac: i am sophomore class senators; in aa if you, or people you know have problems; want to change things regarding ksas or wse; anything related to academic student experience; we have teams, each one takes on an initiative, you can bring your own ideas; we meet on saturdays every other week
jazz: hand over to shreemann internal affairs
shreemmann: in addition to being minion of jazz, we have new vice chair thanks to clerpa…… main update; trying to keep these meetings in order is our main job; we are currently looking at suspensions and moving into closed session, want to work on that a little bit; acccountability is also deisgnated to the ; clerpa was [...]
the constitution was updated; use amended spetember 18th
demarri: motion to postpone to second second: srhremann aye: [a lot] nay: abstain
peter: motion to push to next
nutritionan tabling supplies fundin gbill
tanisha: fun infographics, id on't think enough students eat enough fiber; they answer correctly fiber heavy granola; our next steps
Demarri: motion to pass second: tola, shreemann aye: nay: abstain:
veda: i all, student services committee is focusing on thigns important to the student body, while not much, hope to display something saying "Consent Looks Like…" i hope … hoping for groups/individuals to sign and display in public places
tola: motion to pass second: demarri, shreemann
nifemi: one of my initiatives was to highlight of the black things on campus; did meet with 20/24 black groups, they gave me the idea of making events networking, etc.,
demarri: motion to pass
jackson: feedback on nation call to action, you can just say i support sga on this
jazz:
demarri, shreemann, tola: motion to adjourn