I. Call to Order 7:00
II. Roll Call
III. Pass last week's minutes 7:03
1. Pass: 37
2. Fail: 1
3. Abstain: 4
IV. President McCartney 7:05
1. Student leadership is very important—at Smith we have over 100 clubs and 13 varsity
sports, “each led by a woman … not the typical college culture.”
2. In SGA, we are role models and leaders for the whole community; SGA should become
more of a resource so we can better advocate for our fellow students.
3. She felt like she didn't “find her voice” until graduate school, but we have the opportunity at
Smith to become leaders now—she wants more formal leadership training, and she looks
forward to someday seeing as as alumnae leaders, too
4. She's willing to come back to more sessions—she loves the opportunity to visit Senate, and
after all, “you know where I live.”
5. Q: How far along are we in the Women for the World campaign? A. Somebody made a $4
million gift today to the campaign. We're at about $278 million out of $450—we're
especially far behind on financial aid—and she hopes we'll contribute to the class gift as
seniors. We need to create a culture of philanthropy, because some of the alumnae donors
want to know what percentage of students give to the class gift.
6. Q: How can we thank these donors? A: They would rather have thank you notes than
anything. Maybe we could organize that through SGA.
7. Q: Over the past few weeks, there's been a lot of conversation on campus about race, so
what are your feelings? A: “You all know about the New York event,” “this event was about
civil discourse, not race”—she believes that the panel should have included class and other
intersections and she would have put together a more diverse panel had she known the
discussion would be about race. However, she believes that this can be a catalyst for really
good work. She's met with students and they're mapping out a plan to strengthen this
community. The work we do at orientation isn't enough; “Smith is failing its students of
color.” She worked on this at Harvard: when she became dean, 42% of her hires were
faculty of color. Also, at Harvard, she learned about what does and doesn't work—“maybe
Wendy did us a favor,” because we can learn from this and move forward with the new
dedicated student committee. Some of the things she does at Smith are invisible, but here's
some examples: Hiring a new chief diversity officer and devoting time and money to find
the best of the best, trying to improve Otelia Cromwell Day and encourage student
participation, and working on hiring more faculty of color. “You might think I can just do
these things,” but it's harper than we might think. She's dedicated to change.
8. Q: The administration seems to be more worried about alumnae donations and feelings than
the voices of students when it comes to the issue of transgender students—why aren't we
listening to the students and moving forward? A: She says that's false; she does care about
student voices. However, she can't say much publicly.
9. Q: Do you feel like there can be a misrepresentation of your power as president? A: The
hardest part of her job is that people think they know what she thinks when they don't
(“some people even refer to me as College Hall”), and sometimes people write very
aggressive, disrespectful emails. which is very hard. She loves answering questions and
talking to students, but receiving ugly letters disappoints her. That didn't happen at Harvard;
she wants to create a culture of kindness here.
V. Sustainability Committee – Colgan Powell 7:36
1. Elect 2 senators
A) Zoe Brian, Esther Nwaka
VI. Elect Senators to the following committees 7:40
1. Quality of Life Committee
A) Theo, Zoe Brian, Keara Phillips-Vabre, Murong Li, Susan Mishiyev, Meredith Britton
2. Facilities and Groundskeeping
A) Breanna Parker
VII.
Discussion on the SGA – 7:43
1. Senators Zoe Brian, Sarena Shafner, Dorie Klein
A) They believe that we should hear the voices of the students and not just senators, so they
put together these questions to see what we're doing and what we could be doing
B) Before we restructure we need to know what we want out of student government (for
example, should students represent houses or entire student body?)
VIII.
Open Forum – 7:53
1. Senator Sarena Shafter – Curriculum Committee
A) Should there should be a quantitative requirement like the writing requirement? Possibly
a class or workshops or a lecture series
1. In Favor: 16
2. Opposed: 21
3. Abstain: 9
IX. Get to know your senators! #TransformationTuesday
1. Greta and Vy
X. Announcements – 8:02
1. Please take the discussion questions back to your houses
2. Send out house emails, cc sgasenate@smith.edu