By Addison Mason

During this week’s senate meeting, the senators discussed new resolutions regarding communication about new dining changes and supporting the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion campaign proposed by Dr. Joanna Ravello Goods. Senators ended the meeting by passing a bill appointing a new general senator. 

Senator Ryan Lukowicz proposed two resolutions in this senate meeting, the first one being the approval of the new campaign proposed by Dr. Ravello Goods, “Community Starts with Me, Thrives with Us.” This resolution provides two things, for one, it shows the senate’s support to move past the old campaign, “Racism Stops with Me,” and into the new, proposed campaign. The second thing this resolution provides, as Lukowicz stated, “Committing ourselves to whatever happens in the next phase of that campaign.” The resolution was passed unanimously. 

The second and last resolution of the meeting involves the communication, or lack thereof, of dining changes on campus. This includes the increased cost of meal plans and the closings of the Hawk’s Nest (which has since been reopened) and Cafe Express in the College of Arts and Sciences. Lukowicz says, “This resolution suggests to the administration that we have communications in place such as an all student email or materials that go out addressing dining service changes whenever they happen, especially at the beginning of the semester with openings and closures.” On top of that, the resolution also calls for a reassemble of the dining committee that used to be in place on campus. 

Senator Sam Carter raised concerns about the resolution believing that more communication to the students will only create more conflicts, “A lot of these changes are very minor, there’s just a lot of them, which has upset a lot of people and I think that pushing for such formal notification every time could have a negative impact on students interpretation of the university dining services because these changes happen more frequently than we would like and I think it’s an instant cause for conversation that will probably turn negative.” 

Carter specifically brings up that these changes are due in part to the rising costs of food across the country. He believes that because these changes barely cover inflation, which every other college campus is facing, there isn’t a need to directly communicate these changes to the student body who might interpret the information in a negative light, causing more confusion instead of clarifying what is happening.  

Lukowicz responded, “No one is saying that we expect dining services and cost of food to go down in this economy, but I think it’s more about how are we handling it as a university, that is really what this is looking to address.” 

Lukowicz believes that communication of the changes would have made them more welcome, especially if students were made aware of the reasoning behind them. He states, “Sometimes it’s about how you communicate things such as the cost of food going up instead of just closing two retail establishments, and the only real communication, the way I found out, was actually going to the Bon Appetite website and looking at Hawk’s Nest which was closed and Cafe Express was just not there anymore.” He ended by saying that he doesn’t believe that these dining changes are being made frequently enough to where students would be flooded with emails. 

Senator Anya Arroyo agrees that it wouldn’t hurt to have an email sent out that outlines the changes being made to dining services so students don’t feel blindsided. She states, “I think that the lack of transparency when it comes to things like this is the reason why so many students have a larger issue with them and why it’s such a big speaking point for students as well.” 

Senator Michael Jones also brings up the viewpoint of a campus tour guide stating, “As someone who is a tour guide, if I was notified of this information, my tour would be a lot different than the way it is now…I just think that the communication definitely would not just better students, but other offices on campus as well.” In the end the senators moved to pass this resolution. 

At the end of the meeting, senators presented a bill appointing a new General Senator, Illiana Salinas. She was appointed by unanimous vote and sworn into the Senate.