Senate Beat is Brawl Ball
Senate Public was held on Monday, March 31, in the Student Union. Student Body Vice President Lucy Knight-King ‘26 began the meeting by mentioning that she would be filling in for Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26, who was unable to attend. Knight-King reported that Gude discussed instances of anti-Black graffiti found along campus with BSU, discussed Library accessibility and met with the Senate Webmaster for the Community for Accessibility Resources and Disability Support (CARDS), and spoke with Student and Campus Life about accessibility needs. Knight-King also stressed the upcoming student body elections and promised updates to come, as well as mentioning changes to alumni fundraising. She then discussed the Alumni Board meeting which she attended over spring break, where they discussed instances of anti-Black graffiti and how to uphold Reed's values in the current political atmosphere.
Next, Senator and Appointments Committee Co-chair Bella Moore ‘26 reported that she met with Title IX Coordinator Christy Martin to discuss communications with the student body, and will meet again next week to speak about their findings.
Senator Milo Gardner-Stephens ‘25 met with the Accessibility Committee on March 21 to talk about starting a website, although he did not think that Senate support is needed at present.
Head Treasurer Maya Gutierrez ‘27 announced that Marketplace is now stocked with ketchup, available for everyone to purchase. Additionally, Gutierrez expressed excitement at the sheer number of Renn Fayre projects that have been proposed. This one is gonna be a good one. Assistant Treasurer Jules Flynn ‘27 mentioned that they met with administration about funding future J-Board positions.
Onto everyone’s favorite study spot: the Library. Vice Treasurer Yuri Garcia ‘27 met with the Library Board about their survey to make the Library more optimized for student use. Importantly, she mentioned that there are no current plans to extend hours for finals week this semester or for thesis needs. Fluorescent light haters can rejoice, because Facilities announced that they will replace the fluorescent lights in the Library with LED lights starting on May 18.
There were two votes on FinComm allocations this week. First, Beer Nation requested $2,986 for Apéro Garden and received $2,028.40. Two senators voted against the allocation, with the rest voting in favor. Next, CARDS requested and secured $65 through a unanimous vote.
Senator Karter Stanton ‘26 had a lot to report in this week’s meeting. First, Stanton acknowledged the fact that Fizz uses student emails to verify that posters are students of Reed College. She met with the Computing Planning and Policy Committee (CPPC) to discuss whether or not the college is able to use its verification technology to moderate Fizz and monitor its compliance with Reed’s computer policy, and announced there would be updates soon. CPPC also determined that Reed is in compliance with e-reader policy. Next, Stanton met with Associate Dean of Students & Campus Life Claudia Ramírez Islas, where they discussed sending a Google Form to solicit questions from students about Residence Life’s new in-person housing selection system. Finally, Stanton also attended the first meeting with the Stop Hazing Act Committee. The Stop Hazing Act is a law from the Biden era targeting hazing at colleges. Under the current administration, Oregon has its own guidelines on hazing. Reed College does not have Greek life, making hazing more insidious. The committee is reviewing the documents with the new guidelines in mind and are planning to meet next Tuesday.
Senators Eleanor Davis-Diver ‘26 and Alyssa Daggett ‘27 had nothing to report.
Senator Sima Fasihi ‘28 reported that she has been trying to set up a meeting with Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR) Alice Harra.
Senator Ren Raskin ‘27 announced that Appeals Board received an email from faculty and compiled a report for a case that was sent to J-Board to be reheard. Raskin met with Conference and Events Planning (CEP), and desired to clarify the relationship between CEP and Senate, which she found to be “very ambiguous.” She proposed that Senate run events on “how to run events.” She also announced she had upcoming meetings with Admission and Financial Aid, Academic Support Services, and CEP.
Andrew Happy sent out emails to reapply for Senate jobs if you attend to continue on with the job at the end of semester. He would “greatly appreciate” if you fill out the Google Form, even if you don’t intend on reapplying. Happy asked current Senate position holders to let Senate know if they do not want to reapply for next year.
Raskin also noted at this point that the Art Collection Committee wants another senator, and expressed her own interest in taking the role.
Garcia then announced to thunderous applause that she finished redlining the Bylaws. They now have to be approved by the college’s administration and legal counsel, then they will be posted on the Reed website.
Senate then took questions from the audience, and there was only one issue on people’s minds: Brawl Ball. An audience member mentioned that nothing about consensual fighting is outside the Reed Honor Policy. They also expressed concern about the wording of the email, which states that the police will be called on brawlers. Stanton acknowledged the aggressive and threatening tone of the email’s language with the threat of police involvement, and mentioned that the email could be a result of recent hazing policy changes with the Stop Hazing Act. Knight-King added that the college would still be liable for student injuries as a result of the fight, even if students consented to it, but expressed that the email’s wording was too strict. Moore chimed in to note that the CSOs are not allowed to do anything that could cause physical harm, like breaking up a brawl, due to their union contract. She also noted that Senate can have a liaison meet with Student Life to discuss the email’s wording. Stanton clarified that police would not be involved in the actual fighting, but rather the medical response, as they would be needed to file a report in the case of student injury.
Next, another audience member asked if the changes to hazing policy would change CSOs’ response to Owl Fight. Stanton replied that there would be no police presence for Owl Fight in the future, but noted that the intention of the Stop Hazing Act Committee is to give students more knowledge about how to protect themselves from hazing activities.
The meeting was then adjourned at 4:34pm.
The next Senate Public will be Monday, April 7, at 4:00pm in the Student Union, and is open to all students to attend.