The Student Government Association meeting of February 13 indicated the semester’s momentum was picking up and many new developments would be quick to occur. It commenced with the swearing in of four new student senators, who accepted their new positions and were given the rundown of all the protocols and expectations that student senators have.

Guest speaker Brendon Goodridge, the Resident Life and Housing Assistant Director, was on hand to talk about his job. His role deals with professional staff and student employees, such as residence advisors (RAs). He supervises Cheyenne Laszlo, the townhouse Area Coordinator and Anne-Marie Boyle, the Residence Director of Hoosac Hall.

Besides those roles, he also describes himself as a “jack-of-all-trades”, doing whatever is needed of him in the moment and sitting on several different committees, including one that will be working on “fun stuff” for the incoming first-year students. Goodridge’s speech was brief, but he stayed on for a few minutes longer discussing his career prior to MCLA and his thoughts on various Resident Life and Housing events.

President Ian Crombie led his report discussing the accessibility of sick notes for illnesses other than COVID-19, an issue he brought up to Title IX Dean Patrick Connelly. Many students don’t have access to their primary care physicians while at MCLA or they have other extenuating circumstances that may prevent them from getting the help they need, thus necessitating excused absences.

Dean Connelly stated that through the MCLA Portal there is a way to request an excused absence, it being the first option under the “Student Academics” tab on the Portal website. The hyperlink opens a form for students who need an excused absence to fill out. These absences are additional to the two or three built-in absences to most classes.

After that there was talk of a “Campus Center takeover” event which would be a carnival of sorts, with many other events to look forward to at the end of February and into early March.

Executive VP Callista Motta stated she would be giving committee assignments to the new senators, as SGA members must sit on committees. This operates on a “first come, first serve” basis. If any SGA member strongly wants to sit on a particular committee, they must be the first to say so.

Motta also discussed the Sam Gomez Road Race, a 5k for charity taking place on April 1st between 8 am and 5 pm. More information about the race is available on the MCLA website, under the “Student Government” tab of the “Student Life” section. Motta stated that volunteers for the Sam Gomez race are also needed.
As the meeting wrapped up a few things were determined. One of the new senators offered to sit on the Budget and Financing Committee and all clubs had submitted their budget request letters.

The constitutions of a new club and an updated one to an existing one were also passed around for perusal by the senate body, with voting on said constitutions to take place later.

Executive VP Motta also mentioned a new travel course to Venice, Italy that was put forth at the meeting of the Curriculum Committee.

The Yearbook Committee is seeking student photos. Flyers detailing how students can go about submitting their photos should be around campus soon.