The student senate met on Wednesday to approve its nominees for the Committee on the Constitution, leading to a closed session on the topic. The vote resulted in the approval of seven new members to the Committee, who will serve for the remainder of the 2025-2026 senate term. The meeting opened with a prayer, followed shortly by the taking of attendance, which was handled by student union secretary Catherine Morrissey.
St. Edward's Hall senator Rylan Cooney was present for the session. His predecessor, Michael Heffernan, was impeached and removed from office after seven recorded absences. Cooney was elevated to the position following a special runoff election in the dorm, winning with 59% of the vote against runner-up Ian Moore. St. Edward’s Hall junior Kyle Mackey elaborated on his support for Cooney during the runoff election on Oct. 2.
“I voted for him because he’s one of my good friends, I trust him and I know that he’ll make great decisions for the hall,“ he said. “He has my full support.“
When it came to the question of whether Cooney should continue Heffernan’s stated position of senate absence, Mackey did not express a preference. “Whatever issue comes up, [Cooney] will be able to take care of it and handle it professionally,“ he said.
After roll call came executive announcements, followed by a brief address by student body president Jerry Vielhauer, in which he informed the senate of a Board of Trustees presentation that he would be giving next Thursday to the Notre Dame administration.
“This is a really cool opportunity that we have as student government, to let the Board of Trustees know how the students are feeling, what they’re thinking and then in the spring we’ll also have an opportunity to talk about an issue that we think is important,“ Vielhauer said. “So here’s another really cool opportunity to give feedback and make the University a better place.“
Vielhauer said his presentation would focus on several essential questions, a key one being what factors prevent authentic relationships and community from developing on campus. Vielhauer noted in his address that a significant barrier to student belonging was Notre Dame’s “comparative culture,“ which puts considerable pressure on students to stay overly busy, thereby preventing close relationships from forming.
“I think it implies a larger problem … on a lot of college campuses. We’re still kind of ironing out what our recommendations are for [fixing] the problem,“ he said. “It’s not as simple as just a quick fix … but it is something that we can have some ideas on, whether it be working with administration.”
After Vielhauer finished his remarks, the senate moved on to the main order of the day: the approval of nominees for the Constitutional Committee. Upon the introduction of the order, a motion to close the meeting was approved by the chamber. All attendees who were not proxies or members of the senate were obliged to leave the meeting. The decision was made due to concerns surrounding the “sensitive nature“ of the topic at hand.
Seven new members of the Constitutional Committee were approved: Caroline Cure, Hannahlaura Schuchhardt, Michael McDonald, Samuel Turovets, Shane Unger, Thea Bendaly and Yash Warren. Matthew Amante, whose name appeared on the nomination letter the previous week, was not included in the final document approving the nominees.
“These nominees represent the diverse aspects of the Notre Dame student body and possess both the passion and desire to contribute substantively to the Student Union,“ the nomination letter, signed by senate parliamentarian Sam Robinson, read. “Each has extensive experience in a wide variety of subject areas, from student government in high school and the Notre Dame Student Union to Boys State and the Student Policy Network. Additionally, they all bring a swathe of knowledge in both legal and political matters that will serve as a great asset to constitutional debate and discussion.“
