Special Business
Tuesday, Feb. 24, Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness Chris Renjilian ’05 met with the Student Assembly Senate to discuss his department’s initiatives.
Renjilian explained the four offices of Health and Wellness to the senate: the Student Health Center, the Counseling Center, Campus Recreation and the Office of Health Promotion.
Renjilian highlighted the important relationship he sees between the senate and his office. He listed the senate funding that helps support the Period Project, which supplies free menstrual products around campus, and subsidized pricing for Plan B through his office as examples.
“Our partnership with Student Assembly and its various branches has been critical,” he said.
Sen. Danny Otten ’23 Ph.D. ’27 asked Renjilian whether he had any new initiatives in mind for Health and Wellness.
Renjilian mentioned the University of Virginia’s Connection Project. This is an intervention-based project designed to address the loneliness epidemic by empowering young people to build connections.
“It’s interventions like that that are happening in spaces that we can participate in, that speak to developmental aspects, that really get me excited,” Renjilian said.
Secretary of Health and Safety Jashwanth Puvvadi ’26 and Undersecretaries of Health and Safety Aeman Malik ’27 and Raiha Javaid ’26 also spoke before the senate.
Malik and Javaid proposed an idea for a wellness-focused on-campus vending machine that would provide essential health products, such as menstrual supplies, hygiene kits and emergency contraceptives at below pharmacy prices. They said that the kiosk would likely operate from Earl Gregg Swem Library’s 24-hour study lounge for privacy and accessibility.
The vending machine would allow students to pay with student ID, Apple Pay or card, according to the proposal. It is uncertain whether student insurance will help cover the prices of these products.
“We think that students should have private and affordable access to these products, so we think this could help remove some of the barriers to getting these items,” Malik said.
Malik and Javaid hope to receive funding from the senate, Health and Wellness and possibly the College of William and Mary itself.
The vendor of the machine, SimpliChek, will charge a total of around $9,000 for a 12-month contract. Costs include initial stocking, delivery, installation of the kiosk, inventory monitoring, automated reordering and restocking, sales tax collection, reporting, maintenance and warranty coverage.
Although SimpliChek provides products, Javaid suggested that SA-funded wellness products could be put into the machines to balance the price.
Several senators expressed concern around the cost of a one-year trial for the vending machines, especially considering how SA already finances the Period Project and subsidized STI testing.
“I don’t really see how this is filling a gap because we already currently fund all those initiatives,” Sen. Mackenna Wyckoff ’28 said. “It seems like this would just be paying additional costs for us to fund the same products that we already do.”
In response, Javaid emphasized the kiosk’s accessibility.
“Our main objective with this machine is that it’s available all the time,” she said. “The vending machines also have the benefit of being confidential. You don’t have to go face-to-face with someone to get an emergency contraceptive or an STI test or a pregnancy test.”
New Business
Sen. Jason Zheng ’26 introduced the Bolstering Ethics of Election Fairness Act Part IV, also sponsored by Sen. Quinn Clancey ’27. The bill includes emergency and spring referendums into SA rules around posting campaign materials, Zheng explained.
Wyckoff introduced the Reallocation of Fall LDOC Beer Garden Funding Act, with Sen. Jenny Wang ’29 and Class of 2029 President Daria Lesmerises ’29 also sponsoring the bill.
The bill would allocate $5,000 toward the Royal Ball. Its funding will come from the $12,000 set aside for this year’s beer gardens, which went partially unused after SA decided not to host a fall event.
Wyckoff proposed the Earth Yay Act Part IV, also sponsored by Sen. Nicholas DeSante ’26. In collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, the bill would fund furniture, a live band, succulent planting and stickers for the annual Earth Day Bash on April 17 at the Crim Dell Meadow.
Old Business
The senate passed the Period Act Part VII, which allocates up to $600 from SA reserves for the purchase of single-use and sustainable menstrual products. The bill tasks its sponsors, Sen. Nina Argel ’28, Lesmerises, Sen. Neha Baskar ’29 and Sen. Riya Budhrani ’29, to work alongside Facilities Operations and other departments for assessing the availability and need for menstrual products in campus dispensers.
Argel noted the significant price decrease for menstrual products compared to the past. She said that the bill’s sponsors are creating a QR code and form that would notify Facilities Operations when products need to be restocked in specific locations.
Lesmerises highlighted the importance of tabling to raise awareness about the initiative.
“They’ll see that we’re handing out things, and it’ll be a good connection with the student body,” she said.
The senate passed the Meaningful Committee Overhaul Act, sponsored by Sen. Mayer Tawfik ’27 and Class of 2027 President Nico Giro-Martin ’27. The bill aims to increase accountability and efficiency for senate committees.
Addressing concerns about the bill’s vague language, Tawfik said he wanted to keep the wording relatively open to allow flexibility for future chairs.
Giro-Martin explained how he believes the Meaningful Committee Overhaul Act will allow committee members to focus on specific goals during meetings.
“The committees have become less of a specific space with a specific goal and more of just conversation spaces,” Giro-Martin said. “It allows us to offer our opinions in a smaller setting where we can have a more fruitful conversation, but we’ve also kind of lost a goal of what we are doing.”
Executive Updates
SA President Zoe Wang ’25 MPP ’26 suggested senators look at the calendar before planning events, especially those after spring break. The Executive also reminded the senate that the Omnibus Survey will close Friday, March 6.
