Senate Beat: A Week of Work Before Break

Applications for KRRC Manager, Studio Engineer, and Record Manager closed Tuesday at midnight, though the application for the Webmaster position is still open on Handshake until March 19th. The Webmaster role is a “really great job if you want to be more involved [with Senate] but don’t want to sit up here,” said Senator Jefferson Ratliff (‘25).

Senator Ratliff, along with Student Body Head Treasurer Wani Pandey (‘23), emailed the former head of the Computer User Services (CUS) Committee for re-liaisoning. Since there have been changes to who runs the CUS Committee, Senator Ratliff plans to check in on the Wi-Fi expansion that was pushed last semester. 

Senator Luiz Felipe Horta (‘25) met with the Title IX committee last week, which is getting closer to having a Title IX event soon to inform students about what the Title IX office does and their options. Currently, Senator Lindsay Worrell (‘25) added, Title IX has an event planned for March 31st from 11:30 to 1:30 right outside Commons, “but if that changes we’ll put that out there.” 

Senator Horta also met with Chris last Wednesday to discuss the involuntary leave of absence policy at Reed, a topic that had been brought up in previous Senate Publics concerning issues other colleges had been having with Titles III and IV. 

The Student Committee on Diversity (SCOD) met last Friday, where they worked on creating a survey to send out to students in HUM 110 to evaluate what kinds of discussions currently take place in class. SCOD plans to use the survey to help develop the strategy they will use to introduce incoming students to the discussions of race that take place in the class. According to Senator Meera Balan (‘26), the committee wants to create a “space where race is talked about without causing friction.”

The Finance Committee (FINCOM) recommended two more allocations this week: $225.50 for Fencing Club, and $670.00 for the American Chemical Society, both of which passed unanimously. 

According to Student Body Vice Treasurer Nina Gopaldas (‘24), International Student Services (ISS) has opened hiring for an ISS intern, ISS InterConnect Mentor, and the ISS Orientation Coordinator and InterConnect Lead Mentor on Handshake. The deadline for all three positions is March 20. 

Treasurer Gopaldas recently attended the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) meeting in February, where they discussed a shoulder injury that happened from lifting heavy trash bags. “They’re looking to add lifting equipment to prevent things like this from happening in the future,” said Gopaldas. 

In that same meeting with OHS, the group also discussed the recent snow on campus. “Generally, the mass consensus was that campus closure emails and communications didn’t come out until it was very, very late,” said Gopaldas. “It would have benefited faculty and students to receive that a lot earlier.” The meeting also covered the possibility of having more de-icers around campus so that it isn’t as hazardous to walk around after the snow. 

The sports center has begun construction recently, meaning that parking has begun redirecting around the West parking lot. The East parking lot has also had issues recently, since people have been parking on fire lanes, so OHS plans to look for additional parking.

The Off-campus Study Committee is working on a few new programs for study abroad. There are four new proposed programs, some taking place in Mexico and some in Argentina. The committee will likely know by the end of the semester if the programs are approved, so students can go abroad in the fall. Currently, there are 101 Reedies who plan to study abroad next semester, representing a 124% increase from previous semesters. 

Senator Balan and Senator Xixi Dukes (‘26) had a meeting last week with Commons to discuss the available food options, as well as current Commons hours. “Unfortunately we cannot have Commons open til 11 pm to protect Commons Kyle,” said Balan. Since [Kyle] is the only person in the building, “making him stay longer would be unsafe,” continued Balan. 

With regards to their plan to make Commons food more kosher-friendly, Senator Balan and Senator Dukes are looking for Jewish students to participate with them and the Bon Appetit team to make the process more inclusive. 

Senators Balan and Dukes are also working on creating a better system at the Grill for food so people don’t have to sit or stand waiting for as long a time. They discussed a possible TV system where people can keep track of their orders using tokens. Additionally, said Senator Dukes, “We also requested a bench to be put in [Commons] so we could sit while we wait for the Grill orders.” According to Senator Balan, Bon Appetit also wants students to know that they are allowed to take food from different sections in Commons and combine them without being charged for everything, a process called “meal swapping.”

On Wednesday at 8:30 pm, Senator Balan, along with CSO Gary Granger, conducted a walkathon around campus to identify areas that need more lighting. A notice about it was sent out in the SB info emailed the same day. Balan plans to further meet with Granger to talk about installing lights on campus. “Yes, the canyon needs to be protected,” said Senator Balan, “but students feeling safe to walk back to campus is the utmost priority.”

The Commencement Committee did not have to convene for their most recent meeting, as they were able to narrow down the possible Commencement Speaker list, according to President Safi Zenger (‘24). Moving forward, seniors will be able to vote for the Commencement Speaker they want. The deadline for voting is March 13th, so “any seniors who want an opinion on that should submit beforehand,” said Student Body Vice President Sean Brown (‘24). 

President Zenger and Senator Kiana Cunningham-Rodriguez (‘23) have a monthly meeting scheduled for this Friday with Steve Abrahão and Christy Martin from Academic Support and Services, though, unfortunately, Zenger won’t be able to attend. President Zenger plans to either reschedule or receive an update from Senator Cunningham-Rodriguez about it. 

Despite the meeting being rescheduled twice because of sickness and then the snowstorm, President Zenger and Vice President Brown were finally able to meet with Vice President and Dean for Institutional Diversity Phyllis Esposito. They discussed current events in the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) and the addition of another member to the OID team, Jennifer Whetham, the Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity and the Educational Developer for Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. With the expansion of the now fully-staffed OID team, the department wants to change the way it's currently structured. According to President Zenger, the current plan is for Assistant Dean for Institutional Diversity Jessika Chi to focus on the more student-facing aspect of work, while Phyllis Esposito works on staff and institutional level projects and Jennifer Whetham works more closely with the faculty. 

The group also discussed updates on the climate assessment that happened last year, though they didn’t discuss anything concrete, as Esposito received the data “literally seconds before we walked into her office,” according to Zenger. They intend to sift through the data and use it as a reflection of the campus climate. 

Senate’s plan to tour student spaces has been pushed back until after Spring break, but Senator Ratliff and Vice President Brown plan to reach out to the Director for the Office of Student Engagement Janice Yang to discuss their plans for the spaces. 

Once Senate finished announcing their main business, Aries Carnathan, within the audience, mentioned that, near Canyon Cafe, someone had apparently thrown a lime scooter over the edge of the bouncy bridge into the canyon. “I’m sick of seeing them on campus,” Carnathan said, “I think we need restrictions about them on campus, or at least where you can park them.” 

“So true, gotta get these lime scooters under control,” said President Zenger. Senate proceeded to briefly discuss the scooters, mentioning that they might talk to Gary Granger about it. Someone in the audience spoke up, saying April Sams, the Director of Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety, might be a good contact for working with the external companies Reed has contracts with. 

“Considering there is wildlife in the canyon, there shouldn’t be lime scooters in the canyon,” said President Zenger. “I don’t think we should restrict them on campus at all, but they shouldn’t be left on the bridge or in walkways.”