Ethics! Now at Barnard College

Katheryn Thayer reports from last night’s SGA meeting.

  • Special guests! Representatives from Columbia’s women’s basketball team came in to chat about the upcoming season. Last year, a Barnard woman was Columbia’s first ever Player of the Year in the league. Upon hearing this, the Rep Council emitted a nice little “oooh” of surprise and pride. Hopefully this pumped everyone up enough to come to the Levien Gymnasium Thursday, November 4th at 10 p.m. for Basketball Mania. The first 600 students get free t-shirts!
  • Women’s basketball is in first place… to play this season! Our season starts 11/12, before everyone else in the league gets started. One basketball rep warned Barnard women that he always asks where the Barnard ladies are as soon as he gets the mic at games, and it will be embarrassing if no one is there to make some noise.
  • Special guests part two! Dean Blank acknowledged that there is some concern about re-accreditation for the Nine Ways of Knowing. The program was instituted about ten years ago, so she sees that it’s time to check in and fine-tune the the curriculum. She reported that the committee on instruction looked at the courses and not much has been changed yet. This year a review is scheduled, so there might be some updates to come next year.
  • This year the committee made minor name changes, such as switching “Reason and Value” to “Ethics and Value,” and has just barely started what will probably become a larger investigation of the science requirement. Blank reports, “It’s clear from the meeting that most members believed in the 2-semester requirement, there’s little interest in a combination of just any two courses,” and predicts the conversation will be ongoing.
  • Hoot, Columbia’s own fashion magazine, is a Stage 1 recognized group as of tonight! Happy 0th birthday!
  • The Seven Sisters meeting, an annual gathering of the student governments of Seven Sisters all-women colleges, will be held at Bryn Mawr this year. Last year’s meeting was held at Barnard. One council member noted that attendees “got to go to Campo.”
  • The Thanksgiving Initiative is trying to reach out to all students—especially first years who don’t know how much the campus clears out over the break. The SGA wants all students to know they can connect with an alumna and have “a meal and a family and a place to go on Thanksgiving if they can’t go home.” If you expect to not be thankful for holiday loneliness, look into it!
  • Some upcoming SGA events: learn about Greek Life recognition at Barnard—there will be round tables tomorrow night from 7:30-8:30 and 11/5 from noon-1 p.m. in Diana 302. Free food! More free food: talk about Barnard’s re-accreditation on Wednesday 11/3 at 6 PM in the Diana Event Oval. And on 11/15 the Rep Council will be moved to the Diana Second Floor Dining Room to increase transparency—literally! Budum-ching.

Image via Wikimedia Commons