Tuesday, Sept. 29, the College of William and Mary Student Assembly heard a presentation on the Wren Bell Ready Act from the Cohen Career Center. Senators also introduced legislation to incentivize student participation in dorm tour videos and passed bills to fully subsidize Plan B and fund the annual Art and Hatsuye Ball.
Special Business
SA began by swearing in the newly elected class of 2029 and class of 2030 senators and the class of 2030 president.
Senior Director of Career Readiness and Industry Advising Kelly O’Shaughnessy then presented the Cohen Career Center’s Wren Bell Ready initiative. O’Shaughnessy, whose focus is on career readiness initiatives across campus and student-athlete career development, highlighted the program’s three years of development.
“What you see here is a labor of love from the last three years,” she said.
The initiative takes its name from the College’s tradition of ringing the Wren Bell, which marks the beginning and end of a student’s time at the College.
She described the initiative as a series of four interconnecting nonlinear, noncumulative pathways. The four pathways, which are meant to organize programs and resources already in place from the center, include explore, engage, gain experience and embark.
“Each path is really a bucket of all the resources, events and programs that the Career Center provides,” she said. “There is no starting place that is perfect for all students.”
O’Shaughnessy said students will be able to actively and passively track their progress through these paths through a website and TribeCareers. Activities, like attending a workshop, will automatically appear in a student’s pathway, and students can record other progress through surveys and reflections.
Chair of Finance Neha Baskar ’29 then presented on SA’s quarterly finances.
During the previous fiscal year, the Organizational Budget Allocation Committee allocated $198,177.13 of $354,697.54 requested by registered student organizations. Out of 439 organizations that requested funding, 379 of them received it.
Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Student Unions and Engagement Anne Arseneau ’89 M.A.Ed ’92 highlighted the increase in organizations receiving funding.
“At your highest, you funded only 120 student orgs, and to see that number is truly amazing,” Arseneau said.
Baskar reported that SA currently holds about $940,000 in reserves, cautioning that this figure is less than exact due to changes in software used to calculate these values. She said this means OBAC can be more liberal in its distribution of funds this year.
New Business
SA introduced the Room Reveal Rewards Act, which would provide gift card incentives to students selected to participate in dorm tour videos.
“Based off of the finance report, I want to say it sounds like a great time to do this,” class of 2029 President Daria Lesmerises ’29, who sponsors the bill, said.
Lesmerises has been working with University Marketing to produce full dorm tour videos, potentially in collaboration with The Flat Hat.
University Marketing, according to Lesmerises, has had past difficulties recruiting students to volunteer their rooms for tours.
Organizers hope to create videos on a timeline convenient for prospective and current students, ideally before the Early Decision I deadline.
University Marketing cannot directly offer incentives to students; however, SA can. Funding for gift cards would therefore come from SA’s off-campus account, rather than its reserves. Lesmerises said unused gift cards could be retained for other incentives.
Sen. Nathan Yang ’28 asked how SA obtained the money in this account. Arseneau explained that the revenue was generated through T-shirt sales and that proceeds are now collected from senior portraits. The account currently holds about $8,000.
Old Business
Members passed the Subsidize Plan B Bill II.
Sen. Mackenna Wyckoff ’28 and other organizers met with the Student Health Center and determined that SA could fully subsidize the $20 cost of Plan B. Previously, SA subsidized $15 of the cost.
The bill limits Plan B to one per person per visit.
SA also passed the Art and Hatsuye Ball Act IV, which provides funding for the fourth annual Art and Hatsuye Ball.
Class of 2027 President Cheryl Dao ’27 described the event as an opportunity to create a space for students to come together.
The annual event brings together multicultural organizations for cultural celebration.
Organizers reduced the food costs by approximately $2,000 compared to last year.
Executive Updates
The executive said that next week’s senate session would host a member of the Independent Elections Commission to provide a review of the recent election.
