Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Student Assembly Senate of the College of William and Mary met in the James room of The Sadler Center. The chamber introduced two new bills, passed one and debated two.
New Business
The Earth Yay Act Pt. 3
Chair of the Senate Sen. Hazel Vineet ’25, Sen. Ryan Silien ’28, Class President Matthew Hwang ’25 and Sen. Peerawut Ruangsawasdi ’26 introduced the Earth Yay Act Pt. 3 that was launched at Charter Day on Friday, Feb. 7 in response to the Year of the Environment. The bill would allocate $1410 for an event held in April, emphasizing sustainability and celebrating Earth Day. The event will be organized and planned in partnership with the Veggie Society and the Office of Sustainability.
“It’s not a ton of money, and it’s a really fun way to get the campus community involved in Earth Day celebrations,” Silien said about the event.
The Colonial Relays Carnival Act
Class President Zoe Wang ’26 and Sen. Matt Swenson ’26 introduced the Colonial Relays Carnival Act. William and Mary Track and Field hosts their annual Colonial Relays event through April 2-5. This bill would allocate $680 to host a carnival on April 4 to draw more engagement and participation in the Colonial Relays. The carnival would include a dunk tank, mini golf and athletic booths like tennis and basketball.
“Because student athletes have different schedules and responsibilities from other students, it can be difficult for student athletes to feel integrated within the broader school community. Holding events that bring together is a strong way to help bridge divides and inspire collaboration,” the bill states.
Old Business
The Strategy Process for Reserves Act
The chamber continued debate over The Strategy Process for Reserves Act, sponsored by Swenson. The bill aims to add several amendments regarding finances and SA spending to both the Constitution of the Student Assembly and the Code of the Student Assembly.
Currently, all Senate initiatives are funded by the Reserves fund, which comes from the Student Activities Fee, which is charged to every full-time student at The College. The Reserves fund is subject to the discretion of Senators on how it is used.
The allocated amount in the Reserves fund is highly variable year to year, depending on Recognized Student Organization funding and spending disparities. In fiscal year 2024, the fund has $945,311.58, while the fiscal year 2025 allocation was $749,096.62. This bill aims to create stricter guidelines and voting thresholds for bills that request a certain amount of money.
“The status of Reserves is often at risk of becoming a nebulous concept, and thus Senate debate over spending bills can sometimes lack prudence and clarity,” the bill states.
Changes to the Code will include a mandatory Annual Reserves Resolution. Within three weeks of the new academic year, senators will be required to agree – on a two-thirds majority – on a threshold on spending for each bill, based on the allocated reserves funding for that fiscal year. Any bill that exceeds that threshold can only pass with a two-thirds majority. If the Senate fails to uphold this system, they are subject to adjudication by the Review Board.
Changes to the Constitution include a clause that would allow the Senators to self-impose this two-thirds majority on any piece of legislation. All bills that exceed the spending threshold must also state in the bill an estimate of how many people will benefit from the bill.
This bill has been highly contentious within the Senate, and has been under review for the past two weeks. During this time, Swenson has made multiple amendments to the bill. Skeptical senators are mainly concerned with the Annual Reserves Resolution. Some are concerned about what would happen if a resolution is unable to pass, while others are concerned about the clause that allows for the Review Board to adjudicate on the Senate.
The bill is yet to be voted on, and has entered another week of review by committees, as it continues to be amended.
The . Act Part VI
The . Act, introduced during the meeting of Tuesday, Feb. 11 by Class President Zoe Wang ’26, Sen. Yasmin Kudrati-Plummer ’28, Sen. Sophie Kennedy ’27 and Sen. Cheryl Dao ’27, was amended and brought to the chamber for another week of debate. The bill now states that 500 tampons and 500 sanitary napkins will be distributed across various locations on campus. The bill would also allocate funds to distribute reusable menstrual cups and reusable pads to students.
The amendment of the bill lowered the cost from $6000 to $2500. The bill does, however, leave some funds to allow for additional products to be ordered. When asked about distributing to locations outside of the main campus, Wang said, “That’s why it’s a little higher at $2,500 so that if you know, if law school wants more, you can also help place that order too.”
The Pride Month Act
The chamber passed the Pride Month Act, sponsored by Wang, Swenson, Dao, Class President Nico Giro-Martin ’27 and Sen. Nina Argel ’28. The bill will allocate $4945 for various Pride Month activities and events. The events will take place in April, as the official Pride Month in June takes place over summer break. Events will include Queer Prom, Pride Fest and an LGBTQIA+ Research Symposium. The bill also requires a planning committee composed of executive members from various LGBTQIA+ clubs on campus.
There was pushback on this bill that stemmed from belief that Recognized Student Organizations focused on LGBTQIA+ advocacy and visibility should be the ones organizing this event instead of Student Assembly. The RSOs should also be the ones receiving funding from the Organization Budget Allocation Committee process. Students from Drag and Drop — an RSO promoting and educating on the art form of drag — came to the meeting to express support for the bill.
Sebastian Cannito ’25 was among the students who attended to speak on behalf of the bill. He said that the planning of Pride Month activities was typically the responsibility of the William and Mary Lambda Alliance, but that the organization has dwindled in membership in recent years, and support from SA was necessary.
“We’re doing this because we’re filling a hole that Lambda left for the queer community audience that makes sense and shed some light on who’s involved,” Cannito said.
The bill passed with a majority vote, with VIMS Sen. Mara Walters abstaining.
Executive Updates
The executive followed up on an Open Question posed by Silien during the meeting held Tuesday, Feb. 11, regarding the Committee for the Contextualization of Campus Landmarks & Iconography. Silien asked about fliers that had been posted across campus by CCL&I without approval from the College criticizing and mocking the names of the College’s landmarks and academic buildings. Sloane clarified that if CCL&I were to be considered a part of the Student Assembly, they would be under the purview of the Executive branch. She stated that further discussions will continue before Spring Break as to what the relationship between SA and CCL&I will be.
