The SGA held their 1889th Regular Senate Meeting on Wednesday, April 5 in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union.
The meeting began with a presentation from brothers of Beta Chi Theta, who requested emergency funding for their annual Holi festival celebration that will be held on campus on Saturday, April 22. The “Festival of Colors” is predicted to have around 600 attendees.
Last year, they underestimated the number of guests they would have. They predicted between 100 and 200 guests, but nearly 400 showed up. This year, they are preparing for a larger crowd, and requested funding for paint bottles, tote boxes, Super Soakers, a DJ and a water slide rental. The brothers emphasized their enthusiasm for this event, as well as its cultural importance to their fraternity and community.
The motion passed after their presentation and they were granted the emergency funding that they requested.
Conlan Cesar was officially sworn into the Office of Technology as its secretary. Cesar later explained in a report that he has been working with RSOs that are connected to UMass IT and that he’s working on improving communication between IT and the SGA. To the excitement of many senators, he made a long awaited announcement that “the printer in the SGA office is now working,” as he had fixed it after it had been broken for a while.
Vice President Meher Gandhi reported about her recent club sports meetings with President Shayan Raza and other senators. She was pleased with the input of student advocates and said, “It was really nice to see people come to the meeting and express their concerns.” Gandhi followed this by urging other students to do the same: “I encourage people to share their experiences.”
Chair of the Outreach and Development Committee Mackenzie McNeil announced an update on SGA merchandise and allowed the senators to ask questions about purchasing and ordering merch, and a timeline to do so.
The meeting was adjourned around 8:15 p.m., after a 30 minute recess for those fasting for Ramadan.
Abby Joyce can be reached at [email protected].
