Queer Jews at Brandeis (QJAB), a group for Queer/LGBTQIA2S+ Jewish students on campus according to their constitution, was up for establishment. However, no representatives from the club could come to this meeting. Teri Tozzi, Assistant Director of Student Affairs, said that the club could come at another time to present.
The Brandeis Curling Club was seeking to be chartered. Alex Pickett ’24 presented for the club and explained that, if chartered, they would officially start in fall 2022. The typical curling season is from October through March, the club would hold their practices Friday nights from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Similar to the skating club, Pickett explained that for practice they would carpool to the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland. Current members of the club are working to get BranVan certified to transport team members to practice.
College curling has four members officially but there will be no cap placed on the amount of students allowed to join, Pickett explained. The team would need eight players for a whole match. Pickett explained that they already have a team of four but are actively recruiting and will continue recruitment in the fall. So far, they have traveled to the curling club to watch a match and have been in conversation with Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boston University (BU) on competing against them.
The club has spoken with Julie Mizraji, Intramural Sports Coordinator, on coordinating an event in the fall to have students who want to try curling go to the curling rink with the club.
The union moved to vote by roll-call, the club did not get chartered with eight yes, six abstain and three no. The club did not get chartered due to the large number of abstains, though the Curling Club may come back in the future to present once more, depending on feedback from club support.
The Brandeis Pokemon Club was also seeking establishment, however they did not show up to the meeting. The club also missed their meeting with club support earlier in the day, according to Charlotte Liu ’24.
The Brandeis Entrepreneurship and Tech Association (BETA) club was seeking chartered status. BETA has already launched programs campus-wide including The Brandeis Marriage Pact. Eyal Cohen ’24, CEO of BETA, spoke on behalf of the club. The club wants to bring a greater entrepreneurship culture to campus, Cohen explained that the university offers a good education that can “coalesce into good entrepreneurship.” The club will allow students to work together and build off of each other, Cohen explained.
BETA will offer assistance to students as they prepare their start-ups for launch. The club will do this, Cohen explained, through workshops with business leaders, provide help with branding and help to search for funding grants. The board for BETA has good leadership skills, Cohen explained, and members come from all different academic backgrounds so the club wouldn’t just benefit Business or Econ majors.
By being a chartered club, BETA would use the marathon money funding to help build up the club. The club has met with some International Business School (IBS) professors but does not have a direct partnership, Cohen explained. Though some professors have expressed interest in having a mentor role and some IBS graduate students have signed up for BETA.
Peyton Gillespie ’25 said, “I think BETA has a lot of potential and I think their board has a lot of potential as well.” Gillespie also commented how The Marriage Pact as a proof of concept shows the interest for the club on campus and the success of their initiatives. Nicholas Kanan also commented on the club saying they were the most prepared non-chartered club the union has seen. One concern raised about the club was its interview process to let students join, some members of the union were concerned that this would make the club restrictive which is not within chartered club rules.
The senate voted by roll call with the motion to charter the club passing.
Senate Chairs then presented their reports for their committees. Courtney Thurn ’22, Vice President, spoke on this semester’s midnight Buffet. The union plans to pivot after last semester and respond to student feedback on where they should improve. Students at the last midnight buffet raised concerns around COVID-19 safety and long lines, Thurn explained. The union is trying to organize food trucks for the event and trying to book a different location than Levine Ballroom where it is typically held. The union hopes to make the event split half inside and half outside.
Thurn also spoke on trying to get printing paid for for students. Thurn explained that the union is looking into free printing for students since not all students have access to printing and may not have a means of paying for it. Joseph Coles ’22 and Audrey Sequeira ’24 said this was a great idea.
SOJO committee chair, Zachary Zhang ’24, said he is currently working on the signage issue in the Charles River Apartments with Samatha Shortall ’23. The committee is also working on setting up their Instagram page and Deis Impact.
The Health and Safety Committee member, Emily Adelson ’23, spoke on how the committee is working with Period Activists at ‘Deis. The committee is also working on creating an event with the Brandeis Counseling Center’s (BCC) therapy dogs and doing research on different fidget toys.
Gillespie spoke for the sustainability committee and said they were working on several initiatives. They are currently reaching out to the climate club leaders on campus to try and create a climate coalition between clubs to create greater climate action on campus.
