The University of Massachusetts Student Government Association (SGA) held their first meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The 1918th regular meeting began with the installation of the new senate members.
Chair of the Outreach and Development Committee Ishaan Sarna congratulated the newly appointed senators, stating the application process was very competitive.
“I’m very confident in all the people we have appointed,” Chair Sarna stated.
Following the appointment of new senate members, there were announcements from Deputy Chancellor Tilman Wolf, Vice Chancellor Shelly Perdomo-Ahmed and Secretary Anthony Paik.
Tilman Wolf, Senior Vice Provost and Deputy Chancellor for Operational and Organizational Strategies, spoke to the SGA about UMass Amherst’s carbon footprint reduction efforts.
“We have several exciting projects that are happening,” Wolf stated.
Wolf mentioned that UMass Amherst has a goal to achieve Net Zero Emissions faster than 2050, the aim of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He also stated that the university has signed onto the Okanagan Charter,
In regards to carbon footprint reduction efforts, Wolf stated that the university will be focusing on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Scope 1 emissions refer to the fossil fuels on campus, while Scope 2 are used from electricity that the university purchases.
Currently, Scope 1 emissions have reached 104,058 metric tons of CO2. Scope 2 emissions have reached 8,427 metric tons of CO2.
“On campus you see we are doing several things to reduce our energy use,” Wolf said.
The new computer science and engineering buildings that are in the process of being built are utilizing a Ground Source Heat Exchange. Drilling for this project will begin soon, taking place in the North parking lot.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Shelley Perdomo-Ahmed and Facility Senate Secretary Anthony Paik spoke to the senate about the Campus Demonstration Policy Taskforce.
Vice Chancellor Perdomo-Ahmed and Secretary Paik stated that throughout the summer they were tasked with reviewing guidelines regarding the Campus Demonstration Policy Taskforce.
The main recommendation reached was to change the language and clarify policies. The two policies they are reviewing are the land use policy and picketing policy.
Secretary Paik said they proposed changing the language around the word “structure” in the land use policy to the Massachusetts government definition of structure.
In terms of the picketing policy, they clarified what issues would be handled by administrators and UMPD. Policy violations are to be handled by administrators, while law violations are handled by UMPD.
During officer reports, President Colin Humphries welcomed the SGA back and detailed what he, and Vice President Dale Leone have planned for the upcoming year. He stated that the UMass Administration secured a “huge victory” surrounding food security.
Campus Administration announced via press release that they will be opening a new food pantry in Fall 2025. This pantry will be located in the building that was formerly Newman Catholic Center. The food pantry will be in partnership with the Amherst Survival Center.
“One-third of college students are food insecure, the fact that we will have a food pantry here on our campus is a big deal,” Leone said.
President Humphries also announced that starting on Oct. 8, a dining swipe donation program will be officially up and running.
“Students can donate swipes through the GET app,” Humphries added.
Additionally, during officer reports, Chief of Staff Anthony Nassar spoke about the SGA’s BikeShare program and the changes they will be making for the upcoming year.
BikeShare provides students with access to transportation for a full academic year. Students can rent a bicycle and get bike tune ups for an affordable price.
Nassar stated that the model of the program will slightly change so it can more closely align with the Bike Co-Op for accessibility purposes as well as tune ups.
During the Committee of the Whole, Secretary of Finance Dylan Bellerive gave an audit presentation to the senate, detailing a new auditing process that the SGA will be pursuing during the academic year.
The auditing process will be a financial examination of the budgeting and spending practices of Established Student Organizations (ESOs). Auditing these organizations is a way to make sure that money is being spent correctly.
Secretary of Finance Bellerive stated that he will be randomly selecting 20 Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) per semester and examining the purchase requests throughout the year. Following the examination Bellerive and other auditors will report the findings.
Attorney Benjamin Farrell, from the UMass Amherst Student Legal Services Office, moved his presentation on the Wellman Document to next week’s senate meeting.
Following a brief recess, the senate moved on to Special Orders. Motions appointed senators to vacant senate seats and senate committees.
Resolution 1, which discussed the reaffirmation of 2024-S64 the resolution to boycott divests and sanction and drop the charges on the UMass 57 was tabled from consideration.
Senator Ella Prabhakar stated that she would be withdrawing the motion from consideration and moving it to next week’s senate meeting due to Rosh Hashanah.
The last motion of the night was Resolution 2, which involved urging the Massachusetts Legislature to implement a “first dollar” system, which eliminates the cost of attendance for all in-state students at Massachusetts universities.
“Passing a symbolic resolution like this shows the sentiment of the student body,” Prabhakar said.
The sponsors of the motion; Prabhakar, Senator Rue, Senator Bloom, Chair Sarna, Humphries, Leone and Attorney General Darbhanga took questions from the senate following the reading of the motion.
The motion was then called and passed.
Sydney Warren can be reached at [email protected]
