Special Business
Tuesday, April 7, Chair of the Independent Elections Commission Meagan Kenney ’27 delivered a report on the recent Student Assembly elections and referendums. The IEC enforces the campaign rules of SA elections.
This election cycle had no reported campaign violations, Kenney said.
Voter turnout for elected positions was low for all classes.
The class of 2027 had a 26.83% turnout, while the classes of 2028 and 2029 recorded 25.46% and 22.79%, respectively. The student body election for SA president and vice president had the lowest turnout of 17.57%.
Kenney attributes this low turnout to the several uncontested races. Kenney cited past contested races that saw higher turnout.
“2024 was the most voter turnout I saw from 2020 to 2026, and we think, in part, it was a contested election, and there was a very big referendum on that ballot,” Kenney said. “So we think that contributed to the very large increase in voter turnout. [In] 2025, it was also a contested election, but this election, we did have an uncontested election.”
Kenney also addressed the recent referendums, which students voted on. The referendums on establishing a Firewall for Freedom and canceling the College of William and Mary’’s contract with AI surveillance companies Flock and ZeroEyes all overwhelmingly passed.
Kenney expressed concern over recent code changes and their impacts on the three referendums. The Bolstering Ethics of Election Fairness Act Part IV, which senators unanimously passed on Tuesday, March 3, struck certain stipulations on deadlines for submitting signatures for a referendum.
The amended code now states, “Question(s) must be presented with at least 250 William & Mary student signatures, with full names and issued William and Mary emails, submitted within 21 academic days before the General Election to appear on the ballot. The Elections Commission shall post the question written as provided by the petitioners.”
Kenney said this led to petition submissions occurring days before the election, which gave the IEC no time to review the petitions.
“We had to put them on the ballot without time to verify the language of them, to make sure it wasn’t biased. There’s no time to verify signatures, but we were obligated by code to put them on the ballot,” she said. “So that’s something that we’d like to avoid in the future, because without this clearly defined timeline, we cannot really guarantee a fair, neutral and unbiased referendum in the election.”
Secretary of Data & Analytics Langston Spencer-Hamm ’27 presented the results of the Omnibus Survey, which gauges student perspectives on campus life, health, engagement and residency.
“Many students felt that their schedules are consumed by classes and studying, leading to a lack of time for basic needs like eating and sleeping, making it nearly impossible to schedule or attend appointments during the school day,” the report stated.
Of the 420 respondents, 78% said that on a daily basis, they are either experiencing a moderate or high amount of stress in terms of academics. In terms of mental health care, concerns about wait time were the most cited perceived barrier for seeking care at the College.
“Maybe when you’re thinking about bills or things, it’s like, how do we address this higher amount of stress among students?” Spencer-Hamm suggested to the chamber.
Old Business
Senators unanimously passed the Busch Gardens Day Act, sponsored by Sen. Jenny Wang ’29, Chair of Finance and Sen. Mackenna Wyckoff ’28, Sen. Neha Baskar ’29 and class of 2029 President Daria Lesmerises ’29.
The bill will bring back Busch Gardens Day for the first time since 2019, giving students, faculty and staff discounted ticket rates to the amusement park. SA will provide transport to the park on Friday, Sept. 25, and will arrange funding for Student Leadership Development to run an online ticketing platform.
Before voting, the College of William and Mary Law School Sen. Brooks Alderman J.D. ’26 noted that Busch Gardens is a subsidiary of United Parks and Resorts, which also owns all the Sea World subsidiaries.
“I want to preface this by saying I fully support this bill, before I go into buzz-kill mode, I just want to point out, because I think it’s important for my conscience, that Sea World is a pretty awful company when it comes to this treatment of animals,” Alderman said.
Director of Student Leadership Development Anne Arseneau ’89 M.A.Ed ’92 also noted that this initiative will require more work on the senators’ end to complete than others, as distribution of the physical tickets will have to happen in person.
Arseneau also warned that SA will face financial repercussions if they fail to sell enough tickets to meet Busch Gardens’ minimum required to activate the discount.
“This is a big lift, and you have to meet that minimum, because last time I sponsored you for $16,000, and I don’t have $16,000,” Arseneau said. “You all will pay the penalty if you don’t meet the minimum.”
Senators passed the Closing of the 333rd Session Act, which officially transfers all passed, past and pending bills to the 334th session. The new session will officially begin on Monday, April 13.
