Millie likes the productivity!

You looking for SGA news? We got it! Barnard Bureau Chief Dassi Karp went to Barnard’s Student Government Association Representative Council meeting last night, and she really did her best to pay attention the whole time. Read on to find out what (if anything) went down.

We’ve made it. We’ve been trying not to get our hopes up, but deep down, we knew this day would come. We’ve been cautiously but steadfastly optimistic, and our prayers have been answered: SGA ran a meeting in which actual business got done. I know this sounds crazy, almost too good to be true. But there can be miracles when you believe.

This week’s miracle came in the form of a special appointment. Barnard’s current USenator, Kira Dennis BC’19, announced about a month ago that she would be graduating at the end of the fall semester and would be unable to complete her two-year term in the position. SGA opened a call for applications for students to take on the position for the next year and a half. Two candidates were invited to speak at the external meeting.

The first speaker was Kinza Haq, BC’20. Her platform included advocating for better modes of disseminating information about clases and professors, opening a 24-hour space on campus for prayer and reflection, and sharing Barnard dining meal points and Columbia dining flex points. “I see myself as a voice for Barnard students,” she said. “There is a lot of room for overlap between the schools…we have common goals to meet.” Truer words are rarely spoken about the relationship between schools. Though Haq was not chosen to fill the position, she spoke well and presented good ideas.

The other speaker was Adara Rosenbaum, BC’21. Adara currently sits on the USenate rules committee. She spoke about her experience will help her advocate for Barnard students. “I am committed to ensuring that all resources available to Columbia students are available to Barnard students,” she said. This focus of Barnard being a different but equal counterpart to the University’s other undergraduate colleges seems to signify a shift in common Barnard rhetoric, and I’m excited to see if anything comes of it.

Later, in a closed internal meeting (why?), Rep Council voted to appoint Adara USenator. Congrats, Adara!

SGA got something done this week, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t also welcome administrative guests. This week’s speakers were Jennifer Fondiller BC’88, Vice President for Enrollment, and Christina Lopez, Dean of Admissions. These people run admissions–meaning they very well may have read your essay about your life-changing experience swimming with dolphins or how you Majored In Unafraid at summer camp. They spoke about the increased interest they’ve been seeing in Barnard and admissions’s commitment to helping with affordability. SGA members asked the guests about the recruitment process, and what they’re doing to reach more diverse students. Conversation was pleasant but uninformative. Chelsea Sinclair, Rep for Campus Affairs, motioned to extend this portion of the meeting by five minutes. This motion did not pass.

Because there was more on the agenda! SGA discussed signing on to a statement issued by the student council of the University of Pittsburgh denouncing gun violence in response to the recent deadly shooting in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue during prayer services. After brief discussion, Rep Council voted to vote on whether they should sign on as a body. This passed. They then voted on the statement itself, which passed near-unanimously.

Thanks for getting stuff done, SGA! Let’s keep up the good work.

Photo via Bwog Archives