JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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Senate General Body Meeting #25 — Minutes (03/31/26)

Minutes / Senate · minutes · 113th session · dated March 31, 2026 · updated March 31, 2026

Filed in Drive as “MINUTES of Senate GBM #25”

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

113th Johns Hopkins Student Government Association

Senate Meeting #25

March 31st, 2026 / 07:00 PM / BSC 404

MINUTES

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused: Paul Woo, Isaac Zhang (late), Vishnu Dontu, Sumire Sumi
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (30 min)

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

    1. Motion to add Veda’s bill to the agenda. Passed
    2. Motion to add Jaden’s bill to second reading. Passed
    3. Motion to move Hop-thon funding bill to first reading. Passed
    4. Motion to approve agenda. Passed

  4. Public Input (3 min)

    1. 2 members of the public

  5. Reports (5 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
      1. Student Body President - Vishnu Dontu (Absent)
      2. Student Body Vice President - Omotara Tiamiyu
        1. Meeting with president daniels: 3 points
          1. RSO funding, open to expanding funding and will let SGA know before 7/1
          2. Student engagement, admin is pushing for a more active campus environment and more involved student body
          3. Midterm scheduling, admin will speak with the deans to decrease conflicts
          4. Anti-ICE sentiment, did not provide definite feedback but are open to student opinions
        2. Point of info: anything specific about funding, nothing specific
      3. Secretary - Sumire Sumi (Absent - subbed by Sienna)
        1. Public Safety Video Actors needed
      4. Treasurer - Imad Ahmed
      5. Chair of Programming - Tyler Turner
        1. In person voting, higher turnout
        2. Junior gala went well
        3. Freshman exec is hosting alumni meet and greet in BSC 210 6-8pm
      6. President of the Senate - Srigouri Oruganty
        1. Next GBM will be the last of the year, committee chairs will give short reflections and future outlooks
    2. Advisor Report (2 min)
      1. Inauguration will be in 2 weeks. Food will be provided, pictures will be taken
      2. Results will come out tomorrow and CSE will send out an email
  6. Non-Legislative Business (30 min)
    1. SGA Community Solutions Network - Senator Shreemann
      1. Issue: students are not civically engaged with the larger Baltimore community
      2. General idea: paired with 21CC and Center for Social Concern to promote civic engagement and focus on specific/deserving issues within the community
      3. 21CC and CfSC would provide committees to assist
      4. Point of information: GW University has also been doing this for the DC area, would advise reaching out to them for advice pertaining to the project
      5. Motion for 5 min moderated caucus. Passed
        1. Kirsten: supported, thinks it’s a great way for the CEC to
        2. Srigouri: believes it's a good initiative yet wonders what the difference between this and other clubs with the same purpose are - main difference is that this is housed within SGA and is driven by students and advised by mentors (driven by youth). / How will it be ensured that this will not be an extractivist project - if RSOs apply for this it means responsibility is spread out, CEC can also hold groups accountable. / community based initiatives usually take a long time to achieve, how will you make sure people will stick with their initiatives - all groups offered to lend their wisdom as experienced adults to RSO groups. / How will people be held accountable - absences and disciplinary actions will need to be held to a stronger standard
        3. Tyler: seems very much leaning in towards the Public Health aspect, would be useful to bring in Bloomberg School. Also consider reaching out to other universities within Baltimore community
      6. Motion to extend by 5 minutes. Passed
        1. Tarini: some RSOs may not be able to work as closely with other universities, regarding attendance it would be useful to hold RSOs accountable and make sure that someone who is actually interested in the initiative present at meetings to ensure community needs and goals are being properly met
        2. Kevin: what would the total SGA discretionary budget be - do not have one right now, 20-30k as an assumption, for this project around 5k would be provided. / How was this 5k calculated - made it based on Shreeman’s previous experience with projects
        3. Sophia: how will you ensure that the projects are worth the funding and effort being put into them - projects would be smaller scale in terms of time devoted but long term in terms of effect. / How is accountability being assigned and how are community bridges going to be built fast - people from outside groups would ideally lend their experience and help
      7. Motion for 2 minute extension. Passed
        1. Omotara: in terms of initial engagement people are worried about interactions between the community and RSOs, CfSC is willing to offer training sessions to assist in this
        2. Torini: many concern about building meaningful connections within one semester, still many opportunities for SGA to build connections with local partners if held to a high standard of conduct

  7. First Reading (20 min)

    1. April 2026 Sex Week Funding Bill - Senator Honora
      1. In collaboration with SARU, would be a lecture on female pleasure and safe sex. Other universities have also set precedent and had high turnout
      2. Motion for a 5 minute moderated caucus
        1. Amy: in the past sex week has been done and was done consistently pre-Covid
        2. Veda: was wondering about the funding breakdown and travel costs - SGA is not covering this, only there for the sake of transparency
      3. Motion to pass to finance. Passed, Isaac abstained
    2. Spring Cleaning Funding Bill (SGA Closet) - Chair Tyler
      1. SGA closet needs to be cleaned out, asking for funding to organize closet
      2. Point of info: how will SGA make sure materials are kept to its side of the room since it’s being used by other RSOs - having clearly labeled plastic bins will allow it to be more organized
      3. Torini: advise to go with Home Depot bins, which are sturdier and cheaper
    3. Hopthon Collaboration Funding Bill - Chair Tyler
      1. Background: Hopthon works with Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Children’s Miracle Network hospitals, work on raising awareness, focus on creating fundraising and leadership
      2. Has raised over 350k in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Money goes directly to the Children’s Center without being touched by Hopthon
      3. Funding request: would be great if people and RSOs would be able to come together to
      4. Asking for funding for materials to be used for further advertisement of Hopthon. Total would be 2174.22, SGA would be visible in all posters, t-shirts, and merch sold as a partner with Hopthon
      5. Motion to pass to finance. Passed
    4. SGA Graduation Funding Bill 2026 - Chair Tyler
      1. Funding needed for
      2. Point of information: Peter Jackson is technically impeached due to attendance issues.
      3. Motion to discharge to second reading. Passed
    5. SGA Initiatives Update Bill - President Veda
      1. Higher standards for initiatives and would encourage greater participation by senators
      2. Motion for 5 min moderated caucus. Passes, Kirsten opposed
        1. Jazz: is this an amendment bill and how do you propose to implement this - hopefully an amendment to the bylaws and would be adding another segment to the agenda
        2. Nora: will there be consequences for those who do not participate - no actual punishment but would hopefully serve as motivation for senators to participate in the next GBM
        3. Kevin: full support is given
        4. Tyler: thinks that calling people to prepare things in person will definitely help
      3. Motion to move to IA. Passed

  8. Second Reading (10 min)

    1. Action Report Act.docx - Senator Seán
      1. Definition of ‘report’ was added
      2. Point of information by Kevin: in first reading he recalls the report was voluntary. Sean: the email is voluntary (not the report), report will be sent out soon
      3. Motion to pass. Passed
    2. SGA Programming Updates Bill - Chair Tyler Turner
      1. Point of info by Jaden: one provision at the end to set aside a set amount of money each year which SGA would thus vote on. Chair of Programming can use money as deemed necessary
      2. Motion to pass. Passed, Jason abstained
    3. SGA Bylaws Omnibus Update - Chair Jaden Garcia
      1. Reforming bylaws to be up to date with what SGA actually does
      2. Amend removal of chairs: make the process to remove chairs more difficult
      3. Motion to simplify removal of chair. Passed, Kevin said no.
      4. Motion to pass. Passed
    4. SGA Graduation Funding Bill 2026 - Chair Tyler
      1. Motion to pass.
      2. Point of order: has the bill been updated to add/remove people. No, but SGA is able to adjust accordingly
      3. Motion for 5 min recess.
      4. Point of information: total price may be outside the total SGA budget
      5. Motion to pass. Passed

Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

  • Entire SGA is invited to pageant occurring in the Glass Pav
  • Request to come to Freshman Council event
  • Please begin working on transition documents before the last GBM next week
  • From 4-7pm on Friday there will be Earth Fest, SGA is cordially invited

Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 9:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.