Senate Beat: Senate Announces Progress on Winter Housing Reform, Departmental Minority Groups

This week’s Senate meeting was the last for various members of Senate and Treasury: Gabi Stonoha and Andrea Deniz are outgoing Senators, Natasha Baas-Thomas and Nikhita Airi are leaving their posts of Vice President and President, respectively, and Paulina Poleyumptewa will be leaving Treasury.

Many of them will continue to work on important committees in the spring semester. Gabi Stonoha and Natasha Baas-Thomas will hold full positions on the ad-hoc committee reviewing the Wells Fargo decision, and Nikhita Airi continues as a member of the Presidential Search Committee (alongside Frank Gaunt, who remains on Treasury in spring.) They encourage students to continue contacting them regarding the Wells Fargo decision or the presidential search.

Senator Pax Lloyd-Burchett is looking for Reedies with an interest in the winter and summer housing processes. He is staying in Portland over winter for an upcoming meeting with Associate Dean of Students Julie Maxfield.

Reporting from the Committee on Diversity, Lloyd-Burchett also announced that minority student groups STEMGeMS and Minorities in Philosophy will now receive funding lines from their associated departments. Frank Gaunt, Assistant Treasurer, added that these were ad-hoc decisions made jointly with Nigel Nicholson, Dean of the Faculty, and that other major-specific student groups interested in department funding should contact both of them.

Vice Treasurer Mitzi Zitler announced that a student committee on identity funding will meet the last time this week, “hopefully for the last time,” and will reveal changes to the funding process in spring. Pax Lloyd-Burchett and Isabel Hoff, candidates for President and Vice-President, intend to continue reforming the identity funding process if elected.

Senator Keegan Samaniego announced that a Great Reedie Bake-off is being planned for Spring by the Committee for Diversity. Details are to be made public at a later date, but they anticipate that the event will take place over February and March.

Finally, Salma Huque has been appointed as next year’s Assistant Treasurer.