In true governmental fashion, SGA argues over whose job it is to get things done.

SGA continues its Byzantine processes this week for, well, just about everything. Luckily, as Barnard Bearoness Raji Ganapathy reports, SGA actually underspent their budget and received a more or less neutral response towards Orgo Night. That’s a victory in our books.

This week SGA kicked things off with a brief but necessary conversation with Dr. MJ Murphy, who reiterated the mental health resources available to students on campus. She emphasized that there is no right or wrong way to deal with grief over a loss. As a reminder, Furman counseling is open until 5PM Monday through Friday, and listening hours are held from 7-9:30PM every Monday and Thursday in Elliot and Plimpton Halls. Dr. Murphy mentioned that moving forward, she hopes to focus on increasing awareness and programming regarding the stressors of college life, as well as to work with faculty in order to create a healthier academic environment that acknowledges and provides support for the challenges that Barnard students face.

We then moved on to Constitutional Review. There was a general consensus that the meeting structure for class councils ought to be modified so that all four class council members meet with their advisor together (before, each member would meet with the advisor alone). There was a general disagreement over which member of the Class Council should be assigned the responsibility of writing the emails that go out to students (it’s good to know that SGA hates email-writing as much as I do). Future things on the agenda for the Constitutional Review Board include verifying that all the committees mentioned in the Constitution do in fact still exist, as well as to clarify the policies in place for SGA members who end up studying abroad.

Next on the agenda was the mid year $GA budget review. The take-away message from VP Finance Marlena Eley’s presentation was that most SGA committees are under spending their allocated resources. Only approximately half of SGA’s budget of 400,000 dollars has been spent on programming for Barnard students. SGA members brought up concerns regarding the rigidity of budget guidelines, which limit that funding that can be spent on certain items (such as commemorative clothing or food for an event). Emma Barnett, First-year Class President, suggested that some of the surplus be allocated to support Barnard students in programs such as CUE. Another suggestion proposed by VP Finance Marlena Eley was to promote cross-committee events and collaborative funding within SGA itself.

Last but not least, VP for Campus Life Prianka Jhaveri presented the result of SGA’s semesterly Desserts After Dark survey. This semester’s survey garnered 780 responses from the student body. When respondents were asked what issues they wanted to see addressed by SGA in upcoming sessions, answers included winter housing, dining, food insecurity, the PDF policy, divestment, and the commencement speaker. The survey then moved on to more specific issues. When asked about Orgo Night, student responses were evenly split across the options. When asked if they had attended Orgo Night, 68% of respondents answered that they had not. When asked whether or not Orgo Night ought to be allowed on Barnard’s campus, 34% of respondents answered yes, 30% answered no and 36% indicated no preference. Responses were similarly split for the question of where Orgo Night performers should be allowed, if at all.

And now, in external updates:

• On April 20th at 8PM in the McIntosh Dining Room, almunae from all of the Seven Sisters Colleges will present TED Talk-like speeches about the values and lessons they’ve learned from their time at college and beyond. The event, called “The 7 Habits of Seven Sisters”, is open to Barnard students. Keep on the look out for more info!
• Pop-folk singer/songwriter Dar Williams will be hosting a workshop and performing on April 15th from 2-6PM. Tickets for the performance are free and will be available this week on Eventbrite. If you are a musician, singer or songwriter interested in the workshop, reach out to sgacoa@barnard.edu.
• As part of the Being Barnard Initiative, Well Woman and Student Life will be hosting “When To Swipe Left: Navigating Online Dating” this Thursday in Well Woman (119 Reid Hall) starting at 7:30PM.

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