Special Business
Tuesday, March 25, Dean of the Virginia Institute for Marine Science Derek Aday spoke to the Student Assembly Senate about the Year of the Environment and the College of William and Mary’s continued efforts in advancing sustainability.
Aday highlighted key upcoming events that are sponsored by the Year of the Environment, including the April 22 presentation of “Ocean Soul” by Brian Skerry. To further celebrate, new merchandise featuring the Year of the Environment logo will soon be available. Aday emphasized the importance of student involvement in the Year of the Environment and sponsored events and initiatives.
“The more student involvement we have, I think that’s directly correlated to the success of the year itself,” Aday said.
Secretary of Sustainability Aayla Kastning ’26 also serves on the Year of the Environment committee and will work to ensure a consistent communication process between the committee and the Student Assembly.
Newly and currently elected students in the Masters in Business Association also introduced themselves to the senate. Vedant Singh MBA ’25, the current representative for the Raymond A. Mason School of Business graduate program, led the discussion of potential connections between business graduate student groups and undergraduate students and clubs.
The senate also presented the Annual Budget Presentation, outlining the budget for the 2025-2026 academic year. The budget detailed general allocations, such as OBAC allocations and contracted organizations allocations, including Alma Mater Productions, Media Council and Alpha Phi Omega. The budget also detailed specific event and project expenditures that occur annually.
New Business
Class President Matthew Hwang ’25, Sen. Jeffrey Gu ’25, Sen. Hazel Vineet ’25 and Sen. Kyle Lewis-Johnson ’25 introduced The LDOC Beer Garden Act III. If passed, this bill would establish a Beer Garden event on the last day of classes, Friday, May 2. The bill would allow students 21 and older to participate in the Sunken Garden social event, which would feature a DJ.
Old Business
The chamber passed the Democratic Integrity Restoration Act, amending the constitutional requirements for a bill to pass from a simple majority of a quorum to a simple majority of all senators.
The chamber tabled the Mental Health Journal Act, citing concerns regarding the efficiency of journal distribution and usage.
The chamber passed the Sexual Violence Tertiary Prevention Act II, which will provide funding for flyers and business cards raising awareness about resources for survivors of sexual violence. These resources include on-campus resources such as The Haven, the student health center, the counseling center, campus police and the Title IX office. The resources also include off-campus resources such as the Avalon Center, Timely Care and the Callisto Vault.
Sen. Yasmin Kudrati-Plummer ’28, who introduced the bill, celebrated the legislation’s impact.
“It speaks for itself, it’s supposed to get the word out for survivors,” Kudrati-Plummer said. “It’s not too expensive, but it does a lot.”
The chamber also passed the Let my Senators Go (Abroad) Act, which allows senators to study abroad during their term. However, the act mandates that senators cannot serve more than 30 days of their term abroad.
Executive Updates
SA President Terra Sloane ’25 spoke on SA’s upcoming events. The Colonial Relays field day, co-sponsored with the Student Athletics Association, and the Literary Arts Event will both take place Friday, April 4.
Sloane highlighted the upcoming pride events in April, as well as events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, including a Title IX town hall April 23.
Secretary of Academic Affairs Josiah DeSarro-Raynal ’25 provided updates on upcoming events involving the department.
“It is the second week of the Arts and Democracy series hosted by Reves,” DeSarro-Raynal said. “We’ve got this group, Art Lords, which is from Afghanistan. They’re painting a mural that was a recreation of a mural they painted in Kabul.”
DeSarro-Raynal also highlighted the upcoming major declaration week and SA’s partnership with the STEP office to provide major-specific merchandise to declaring students.
