The 2021-2022 Notre Dame student senate convened for its first meeting of the spring semester Wednesday night on the second floor of the LaFortune Student Center. The senate heard executive announcements, confirmed a new director of gender relations and discussed new business.
Senior and student body president Allan Njomo invited the senate to make the most of the University holiday Monday, Jan. 17 as Notre Dame takes a full day off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the first time.
Njomo also invited members to participate in Walk the Walk Week events — including the keynote panel entitled “Building a Beloved Community at Notre Dame” Tuesday night at 8:15 p.m. in Washington Hall.
Junior Peyton Nielsen was nominated for director of gender relations for the remainder of the 2021-2022 term. After a short summary of Nielsen’s work in the Gender Relations Center and on Pasquerilla West’s executive board, the senate voted on the nomination. Nielsen was unanimously voted in.
Keough Hall senator Benjamin Erhardt raised questions about the University’s Jan. 21 deadline for students to receive the COVID-19 booster vaccine.
“I’ve been hearing that so many students have caught COVID over the break, and we’re not going to be able to reach, practically speaking, [the] 90% [community goal] for quite some time,” Erhardt said. “So, I’m just curious if that’s something that’s being discussed.”
Student body vice president Matthew Bisner responded that executive leaders were hoping to receive a benchmark statistic from the University later in the week.
Fisher Hall senator Maclane Farrel and Knott Hall senator Abraham Figueroa brought up a project to ask Residential Life that students be allowed to move back into residence halls prior to the day before classes in future semesters.
Student Union Board (SUB) executive director Kate McLaughlin said AcoustiCafe will be back this semester with a new time of 8:30-10:30 p.m. at Hagerty Family Cafe. SUB will also be hosting a concert for students in Legends on Jan. 29.
Judicial Council president David Haungs reminded senate members to not sign petitions for student body president and vice president nominations and not to endorse tickets as the election season nears.
With no general orders on the agenda, the meeting adjourned early.
