Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
New IDs
According to Co-President Lanie Schlessinger ’15, students over 21 can now get a new ID for free from Benjamin West with a red barcode so that it is easier for the Party Advisors to see who is over 21. The purpose of this new policy is to streamline students’ entrances into parties, as there have been some disagreements in the first few weeks about the date of birth on some students’ IDs. StuCo decided that after a one-week grace period to allow students to go to Benjamin West and get new IDs, old IDs will no longer be accepted at parties if you are over 21.
Forums
Dates were narrowed down for two upcoming StuCo forums, the first of which will be a Social Policy Forum on either Tuesday, October 1st or Thursday, October 3rd. Schlessinger said this forum will discuss the policies on drinking and social life and will feature representatives from the administration, like Mike Hill, Director of Public Safety, Joanna Gallagher, Associate Director of Public Safety, and Mike Elias, Student Activities Coordinator. These forums will have 10-15 minute presentations from the representatives, followed by a 40-minute discussion with staff and faculty, followed by another 30-45 minute students-only session where the staff and faculty are not present. At the forums, StuCo will have handouts with changes from last year highlighted and notecards will be provided if students prefer to ask anonymous questions.
Appointments Chair Yuan Qu ’14 said the second forum is an Interim Sexual Assault Policy forum on Friday, October 25th, after fall break. This forum will feature Beth Kotarski, the Worth Health Center Director.
The location of both forums is yet to be determined.
Party Hosts
SBC Chairperson Jacob Adenbaum ’14 said he has been working with Mike Elias to reform party and alcohol policies. One such reform is the hiring of party hosts instead of DJs for SAC-funded parties, who will set up, clean up, and bartend. They are in the process of designing a training program that will cover bystander training, alcohol training, and teach party hosts how to appropriately clean up a party space. This is going to be a once-a-month, 3-phase training system which hopefully will be much more thorough than those held every Tuesday last year. In the meantime, students who are not party host trained but want to throw a party can meet with Mike Elias to go over the important training information.
Collection
Co-President Gabby Capone also brought up a campus-wide Friday afternoon Collection at some point this semester, though the date has not yet been finalized. This collection will likely be co-hosted by the Institute for the Liberal Arts, an organization composed of Swarthmore professors, or President Rebecca Chopp. StuCo has not yet decided whether the collection will be focused on a particular topic or open for community discussion.
New Committees
Qu said that two new committees will be formed this semester. A Clery Compliance Committee, under Public Safety Director Mike Hill, will focus on issues relating to the Clery Act. It has not been decided yet whether or not this is to be a regular or special committee.
There will also be a new Sexual Assault Hearing Board comprised of eight students who will go through a series of extensive training processes and will have three voting members — one student, one faculty member, and one staff member. Nate Miller, the Dean of the Senior Class and Judicial Affairs Coordinator will act as the Student Conduct Administrator to assist in the facilitation of the process. It also has not been decided yet whether this will be a special committee or a regular committee.
Miscellaneous
Adenbaum suggested that StuCo buy a grill for student use that could be checked out for parties and barbeques.
StuCo is considering appointing a student Campus Liaison to establish better communications and transparency between all members of the Swarthmore community. This idea is still in the initial stages and conversation will be continued next week.
Social Outreach Coordinator Aya Ibrahim ’15 suggested that StuCo begin holding office hours every week for students interested in giving feedback, making a request, or finding more information about projects StuCo is working on. The rest of StuCo agreed that it needs to get more face time with the student body and that this is a topic that should continue to be discussed in the meeting next week.
StuCo candidate platforms are due this Friday.
