The Fireside Theater Company gained status as an established club, during the Senate meeting. The club had been chartered last semester, and it is commonly known from its creation and produced of the play, “Our Day Will Come,” based on the Irish Civil War. The president of the club, Alexander Ross ’22 attended the meeting to present their plans for the future. Some of their plans include potentially hiring a theater professional and conducting “table reading workshops” in addition to hosting play productions each semester.
Upon deciding the status of the club, Peyton Gillespie ’25 commented, “I think it’s a no brainer. It’s clear they know what they are doing.” However, Joseph Coles ’22 was not as convinced, commenting, “we need to ask the club to do more”. Despite the motion passing, Coles voted no while Charlotte Li ’24, Nicholas Kanan ’23 and Griffin Stotland ’23 voted to abstain.
Chair of the Health and Safety committee, Skye Liu ’23 chartered Mood Psychology, a club that will work to provide psychological support for international students along with career counseling and support for students that have an interest in psychology fields in the future.
Liu mentioned that Mood Psychology is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and has many chapters across universities in the United States, providing mental health resources to Chinese students. When talking about the Brandeis Counseling Center, Liu claimed “they just assume that we are going through the same kind of emotional distress as domestic students but that is generally not true. We face a different set of challenges.”
Liu plans to translate club materials to English and have the club open to all international students. After being chartered the club plans to potentially collaborate with the chapters from Boston University and Harvard.
Jason Dayan ’23, attended the meeting in hopes of chartering the Brandeis Haircutting Club. The club plans to teach students how to cut hair and provide a space where students that already possess the knowledge to exchange ideas and methods with each other. Students would learn the techniques of cutting hair through demonstrations on mannequins and the use of videos. Upon Dayan being put in the waiting room, Kanan said, “It seems niche but I don’t think it’s quite there yet.” Coles was also not convinced, adding, “I don’t think they deserve funding in the first place.” Courtney Thrun ’22 asked the club to come back in three weeks and present again once the club has held a few more meetings.
The proposed treasury budget for the 2023 fiscal year was approved by the popular vote. Josh Hopen ’23, and Amanda Shneider ’22 presented the budget at the meeting after the midterm break. While the motion was approved, Coles voted no, while Audrey Sequeria ’24 and Gonzalo Palofox ’25 voted to abstain.
