Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Student Assembly Senate of the College of William and Mary met and discussed five new bills, as well as passed three bills. SA President Terra Sloane ’25 also gave executive updates to the chamber.
New Business
The N.A.M.E. Resolution was introduced by Sen. Mayer Tawfik ’27, Class President Nico Giro-Martin ’27, Sen. Tyson Liverman ’27, Sen. Sophie Kennedy ’27, Sen. Cheryl Dao ’27 and Class President Devaugh Henry ’28. It is co-sponsored by Class President Matthew Hwang ’25, Chair of the Senate Sen. Hazel Vineet ’25, Sen. Jeffrey Gu ’25, Sen. Andrew Kramer ’28, Arts and Sciences Graduate Sen. Morgan Brittain and Sen. Connor O’Neill J.D. ’25.
The bill aims to respond to concerns expressed over undergraduate students not having sufficient input on the names of new residential facilities.
The resolution notes that “the renaming of Brown Hall was received with mixed reactions from both the student and Williamsburg communities, and a petition expressing discontent received over 600 signatures.”
The original text included that the hall was renamed to “Robert M. Gates Hall.” That mention of the College chancellor’s name was later removed by Tawfik.
The resolution also states that currently, “student input on the Design Review Board is limited to only one graduate student,” which the bill’s authors see as a sign for increased undergraduate student participation in the naming process.
It also calls for other actions, including naming reports with information about the vetting process and other details.
Additionally, Tawfik also distributed a form for student feedback about the resolution.
The Ice Skating Extravaganza Act, sponsored by Henry and Giro-Martin, aims to allocate $10,020 from Student Assembly Reserves to support the costs of three sessions of ice skating in Colonial Williamsburg.
The ice rink event held the year before will continue this year. According to the meeting minutes, the event will be held on the “First three Saturdays of Spring semester.”
“Last year with two nights, it was extremely popular. We had high attendance for all three hours that we conducted the event,” Giro-Martin said, explaining the expansion of the event from two to three nights.
The Supporting LGBTQ+ Roommates Act Part III, sponsored by Wang and Swenson, aims to allocate $150 to fund Papa John’s pizzas for an event facilitating an LGBTQIA+ roommate search event.
The Funding Spring Concert Act allocates $25,000 to pay for artists to perform. The bill is part of the efforts SA is undertaking with Alma Mater Productions to prepare for the spring concert, including choosing and finalizing the contract for the artists. It is sponsored by Henry and Sen. Yasmin Kudrati-Plummer ’28, and is co-sponsored by Sen. Nina Argel ’28.
This chamber also discussed The Spring Concert Production Act that would cover the costs of putting on the performance on the Kaplan Arena, which requires an additional $10,000 to be provided by the Spring Concert Production Bill. That bill is sponsored by Henry and Kudrati-Plummer, while Argel, Kramer and Sen. Ryan Silien ’28 co-sponsored.
Assistant Director of Programming of Student Unions and Engagement Jenna Venable explained that production costs had doubled from the last concert due to labor costs.
Director of Student Leadership Development Anne Arseneau ’89, MA.Ed ’92, noted that without this funding, the concert would likely be moved to the Briggs Amphitheater instead of Kaplan. Henry explained the reasoning behind holding the show in Kaplan.
“Briggs can only hold 1700 people, or 17 to 1800 people, whereas Kaplan can hold a lot more than 1700,” Henry said.
Old Business
Art & Hatsuye Ball Act II was sponsored by Hwang, Vineet, Wang, Dao, Tawfik and Argel.
The bill allocated up to $18,360 to be spent on the ball, which serves as a community event for Asian American Pacific Islander students on campus. Discussion of the upcoming ball revolved mainly around catering costs and the location and date.
The event will take place on a Sunday or Thursday depending on the availability of the Alumni House. The bill passed.
The Eighth Annual Sankofa Gala Act was sponsored by Liverman, Sen. Kyle Lewis-Johnson ’25 and Henry.
The bill provides funding for the Sankofa gala. The main point of discussion was over photo booths, two photo booths will be provided. This event celebrates Black History month and the idea of reflection on the past, hence the name “Sankofa,” which comes from the Akan people of Ghana. The bill passed.
Hwang, Gu, Vineet and Lewis-Johnson were the sponsors of the last bill considered, The LDOC Beer Garden Act.
The bill provides funding for the LDOC Beer Garden event and states that the event will run from 2 to 5 p.m. Discussion of the bill confirmed that the City of Williamsburg will spend around $1,000 to provide pizzas. Cider and a DJ are under consideration as well.
The Senate also had a debate over whether to include “koozies,” an insulating sleeve for drinks, or not. SA Vice President Oscar Lazo ’25 opposed the koozies due to concerns over whether they would actually draw students to the event, while Sloane, Sen. Ashlynn Parker ’26 and Brittain came out in support of the koozies for reasons including popularity, incentive and helping against the cold.
In addition, the discussion cemented the event as available to students 21 years or older, due to Aramark’s concerns. The bill passed.
All bills passed with unanimous support, except for The LDOC Beer Garden Act, which Sen. Laayba Tanoli ’25 abstained from voting.
Executive Updates
Sloane stated that Tuesday, Nov. 19, there will be an event for student feedback about West Woods Phase II. Sloane also stated that a registration form would be sent out for those who wanted to attend because of limited seats.
“So asking some, like last minute student feedback questions about some of the furniture in Westwood, some of the dining facilities, what they should offer, what they should look like,” Sloane said, referring to topics that would be brought up during the event.
Sloane also mentioned the College’s Board of Visitors meetings which will run from Wednesday, Nov. 20, to Friday, Nov. 22.
The SA Department of Health and Safety created graphics from their sexual health tabling about topics like sexual health and using the Rave Guardian app. Sloane said that these graphics would be available to use by the class presidents and others.
One of the other major announcements Sloane made was about the walking tour involving collaboration with the Lemon Project and Contextualization of Campus Landmarks and Iconography. Sloane told her fellow SA members to let her know if they wanted to contribute to the project during the spring.
Lazo said that the excavation work in front of the Wren would be completed soon and asked SA members to respond if they wanted to support Royal Ball preparations.
Lazo also announced planning for a potential event around the arts.
“We know that the year of the arts wasn’t necessarily as productive for a lot of student organizations on campus, so we [Department of Student Experience Deputy Secretary Tony Jones and Lazo] sort of want to do like a weeklong celebration for all of our organizations,” Lazo said.
Lazo mentioned comedy, dance, literary arts and other clubs as potential participants. He also said that the event may conclude at the Muscarelle if plans allow for it.
Public Comments
Carsten Chow ’28, SA undersecretary of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, discussed several upcoming initiatives in his public comment.
Aside from the LGBTQ roommate search, he also mentioned development of a potential living and learning community, as well as an April Pride Month event. More funding may be necessary for the Pride Month event.
Jake Poppiti ’24 M.A.Ed. ’25 brought up alternate interpretations of the acronym SA, and made reference to a recent guest column in The Flat Hat opinion section written by Argel about the issue.
He noted that SA often serves as an acronym for “sexual assault,” but that it also refers to a Nazi paramilitary wing. Poppiti suggested switching the word “assembly” with another one by allowing the students to choose a replacement.
“If this government is truly of and by the students, then let us give the question back to the people and hold a two part referendum, two parts,” Poppiti said.
His strategy would involve students providing name ideas, a committee choosing finalist names and the student body voting on the finalists.
Sloane responded by saying that, due to both a legal document and to mirror the names of similar organizations, SA uses the word “assembly” and so has the acronym SA.
Kudrati-Plummer also mentioned a resolution on the name that would incorporate student input.
