The Senate meeting started with Student Union Vice President Aaron Finkel ’20 swearing in the rest of the new members. He also announced that there is a new sign-in sheet for Senators to log their office hours. 

The Senate also saw a presentation by the founder of the Running Club, who were hoping to get on the probationary period. The club is meant to gather students who want to go on runs, but do not want to do so competitively: at the moment there are around thirty people interested. The Senate voted to approve the club for the probationary period.

Senators discussed the idea of requiring all chartered clubs have faculty advisors. The chair of the Club Support Committee, Noah Nguyen ’21, clarified that the advisors will not affect the autonomy of the club or have to be present at all meetings. They would be there as someone to go to when the leadership of the club is having difficulties.

The Rules Committee proposed an amendment to bylaws that would require a member of the Judiciary to be present at their weekly meetings, to find out what the judiciary does and to improve accountability. The Senate will vote on this next week. 

The Senate passed an amendment proposed by Senators Jake Rong ’21 and Leigh Salamon’s ’19 introduced last week. Now Senators can only cast a vote once, without the possibility of changing it.

The Senate passed two Senate Money Resolutions. They will go towards helping fund food and other needs for the sustainability student leadership symposium and the Social Justice and Diversity Committee’s event for Black History Month.  

The Health and Safety Committee reported that the condoms and bowls are bought and condoms will be put in bathrooms within the next few weeks. There have also been reports of seven cases of rampant neglect in the Brandeis Counseling Center. 
 

The Services and Outreach Committee reported that it is working on organizing the Midnight Buffet, which will most likely be in the Shapiro Student Center, and Meet the Union. The Dining Committee is working with Sodexo to get menus on the Branda app, which should come with the next update.