Senate Beat is Scared of Tempehgate
Highlights and action items: Big things happening in Commons, as reported by Senator Hoyle. Curious about the outcome of Tempehgate? Read on!
This week’s Senate Public was held on Monday, March 17, in the Chapel. Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26 officially began the meeting and discussed their conversation with the Presidential Council on Campus Climate (PCCC) on the second instance of anti-Black graffiti found recently. Members of the Black Student Union, including Gude, spoke to Vice President and Dean for Institutional Diversity Phyllis Esposito about ways that Reed can support community members moving forward. Additionally, Gude is in contact with the Senate Webmaster regarding updates to the website.
Gude met with Honor Council to go over hiring processes and will be meeting with J-Board in the upcoming week. For Student and Campus Life, Gude and Senator Andrew Happy ‘27 met with Associate Dean of Students and Campus Life Claudia Ramírez Islas, but had to reschedule to this upcoming Wednesday due to the absence of additional Committee members. Gude also spoke to Director of Student Engagement Janice Yang about the availability of student spaces, proposing a long-term project to renovate Shit Palace, a mostly unusable storage area in the basement of ODB. Olde Reed is so dead. Gude’s final meeting with the Library Board is coming up on March 31st. Gude and Vice President Lucy Knight-King ‘26 met with Dean of Students Chris Toutain about communication within Senate.
Knight-King met with the Legislation Committee and declared that the proposal to change distribution requirements had reached the first stage of review, which will be accomplished by both Senate and faculty. Knight-King exclaimed that she was excited about the new members of the Student Committee on Diversity (SCOD), who met to plan an upcoming event and talk about their goals for the rest of the semester. For the Renn Fayre meeting, committee members primarily went through student project proposals, which Knight-King called “pretty awesome.” Olde Reed is so back!
Vice Treasurer Yuri Garcia ‘27 stated that she is working on setting up the final Reactor Operations Committee meeting for the semester. Garcia reiterated that any budgets heard by Finance Committee (FinComm) on Tuesday, March 17, will not be allocated until the Senate Public after Spring Break. This is because funding provided to clubs on a rolling basis requires that Senators vote to approve the amount allocated. Garcia added that signators who have, or think they have, rollover funds from last semester should email money@reed.edu, stating that “Treasury will get you your funds for use this semester as soon as possible.”
Head Treasurer Maya Gutierrez ‘27 specified that last Tuesday, Terrarium Club requested $509.89, of which Treasury approved $286. Additionally, the GCC Darkroom asked for $1394.66, which Treasury allocated fully. Congratulations, nerds!
Assistant Treasurer Jules Flynn ‘27 announced that they were finally able to schedule a meeting with the Bookstore next month. They added to Gude’s statement about Honor Council, stating that they had “heard good things” about their meeting with Senate earlier today. Flynn shared that they also considered the results of the Reed Union last Friday, as well as plans with admin to enact legislative changes to the Honor Principle for the Fall 2025 semester.
Senators Alyssa Daggett '27, Eleanor Davis-Diver ‘26, and Milo Gardner-Stephens ‘25 announced that they had nothing to report.
Senator Karter Stanton ‘26 spoke on behalf of the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, which Senator Ren Raskin '27 is currently meeting with and will provide updates on at the next Public The Computing Planning and Policy Committee (CPPC) will be meeting tomorrow to “talk about some exciting things.” Stanton will be attending the first Stop Hazing Act meeting on Tuesday, March 18,with Gutierrez, focusing on gauging student sentiments around hazing. Finally, she will be meeting with J-Board this week.
Senator Sima Fasihi '28 mentioned that the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (SCAPP) did not meet last week but will be meeting this Friday as they typically have meetings on a biweekly basis. For CLBR, Fasihi plans on meeting after Spring Break. She added to Knight-King’s comments on SCOD that two additional members will be joining them for their upcoming meeting.
Senator and Appointments Committee Co-Chair Andrew Happy ‘27 recommended Azadé Boyd-Coly ‘28 for Pool Hall Assistant Manager, who was subsequently appointed. Happy added to Gude’s update about Student and Campus Life that they had projects in the works for the remainder of the semester.
Senator and Appointments Committee Co-Chair Bella Moore ‘26 recommended Noah Lollar ‘28 for Appeals Board. Moore met with Director of Community Safety Gary Granger and specified “an important clarification for the Quest” that CSOs have their own Narcan budget, which supplies the dorms. Furthermore, the HCC grant mentioned in previous Senate Beats is specific to Narcan supplies within the HCC. Finally, she called last Friday’s Reed Union a success and thanked everyone who came. Although there are currently no plans to hold another Union until fall, students, staff, and faculty should email warroom@reed.edu soon if they would like that to change.
Senator Catherine Hoyle ‘25 began with a warning that she had a lot to report! Hoyle reported that she was also at the meeting with Gary Granger, and that they additionally discussed the “Run Hide Fight” drill on March 13, specifically addressing concerns about it being early in the morning. Granger attributed the timing and mechanics of the drill to historical precedent, along with the increased efficiency of having it during many morning classes. They spoke about ways to make drills more effective going forward, including raising awareness about procedures among faculty.
Hoyle also reported that CSOs go around campus once a week to restock the Narcan. Subsequently, she clarified that building hours and swipe access are set by departments and not the CSOs; therefore students interested in late-night or campus-wide access to the Studio Art Building, for example, should speak with department coordinators. Granger will be sending Senate a list of closing times for campus buildings.
Reporting on behalf of the Commons Committee, Hoyle said that signage for grill seating will be up soon. They also discussed getting Pirate’s Booty in Marketplace. Additionally, occasional absences of drinks in Commons and Marketplace are not a restocking issue, but an issue with the companies actually delivering Bon Appétit’s orders. Essentially, if Commons employees report that they don’t have an item, they probably don’t have a secret stock of it anywhere on campus. Additionally, orange and blueberry Yerba Maté will be back in Commons after an incident in which they were removed to add other flavors. Hoyle then addressed the contentious topic of Commons tempeh, reporting that student representatives were going to meet with Tempeh Guy! Unfortunately, he learned about the discourse surrounding his creation and did not come in. He was scared he would be berated.
Pivoting to another protein, Hoyle reported that people had raised concerns about pork, which Commons tries not to simultaneously serve at every station. She then disclosed the esoteric knowledge that students can ask an employee to replace one protein with a different one from another station at no additional cost. The Commons Committee also discussed the possibility of serving leftovers from meals served during the day at Late Night, which is being considered for next semester. The committee also discussed putting additional seating in Commons in fall, reducing the number of large, round tables.
As for Institutional Animal Care, Hoyle reported that a protocol was approved and no board meeting was called. For Community for Accessibility Resources and Disability Support (CARDS), she will continue reaching out to the Library about implementing less harsh lighting. They are also working on the Blue Lodge with Renn Fayre Czars and other senators, as well as the creation of a sensory space in the future. Hoyle closed by plugging CARDS, which meets every Tuesday in the Student Center and is open to all.
At long last, the floor was open for public comment.
Sofia Pomeroy ‘25 asked about appointing another parliamentarian after the resignation of previous parliamentarian Lina Eid ‘26. Gude replied that there were still some steps that needed to be completed before moving forward with that process, although they were unsure what they could disclose. Specifically, multiple senators are interested in the position of parliamentarian, and need to assemble their platforms to run before a parliamentarian can be selected.
XiXi Dukes ‘26 expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the Reed Union, and inquired about the outcome of the plans and ideas that were produced during the event. An unidentified senator replied that everything written down during the Union was given to Honor Council, which Senate will obtain after coordinating with them. The relevant meetings for discussing the Union, presumably with administration, did not happen this week, which several senators specified was due to the attendees having met recently and were very specific that they weren’t throwing anyone under the bus. However, a Union Committee is not necessary for organizing such an event! After enthusiastic chatter from the audience, Hoyle chimed in that the main hindrance to the Union was that an advertisement wasn't sent to staff and faculty. Senate thanked the attendees and the student body for showing up at the Union, to a round of raucous applause.
Dukes followed up by asking if there was anything that Senate wanted to see from students in general. Senators expressed that a common student concern was the desire for more dialogue and spaces to respectfully air grievances, which can be accomplished during Senate Publics and via increased engagement during office hours. Gude noted that students can get off Fizz and talk to senators about their problems in person, since Senate can’t meaningfully respond to anonymous feedback! On that iconic ending note, the meeting was adjourned. Senate Public will return on Monday, March 31, at 4:00pm at its original location in the SU.