Student Association Meeting, October 6 2015
Start Time: 7:00
Roll Call
Invocation
Father Mike: Nature’s first green is gold/ Her hardest hue to hold./ Her early leaf’s a flower;/
but only so an hour./ Then leaf subsides to leaf,/so Eden sank to grief/so dawn goes down today/
nothing gold can stay. Mighty God, we thank you for these special years; the green years, the
golden years. Bless our time at our college, bless our Student Association, bless those we
represent, bless our community. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Chair Remarks
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Tonight we have Lara from MOVE
presenting, Water Polo, the Fix it With 5 winner from two years ago, and we will be presenting
the advisors to you for potential approval. I need real honesty; how many of you have read the
minutes from last week? Only five (5) people; please remember to read them; we keep them in
the records for five years and it’s important to be informed when you’re voting.
Tylik Williams-Prince, Student Association Vice President: Somewhere in the world today
people are celebrating Come and Take It day which recognizes the Battle of Gonzales which
took place in Texas on October 2 1895. Today is also Mad Hatter Day for Alice and Wonderland
and Physician’s Assistant’s Day. Please remember to turn in Advisor Confirmation Forms by
Friday at noon. Committees have been assigned; you can serve on more than one.
Committee Reports:
Victoria Barnum, Secretary of Academics: Good luck on midterms this week. Break is in two
weekends.
Anthony Lopez, Secretary of Athletics: tomorrow we have Men’s Soccer; Saturday we have
Women’s Tennis and Men’s Soccer. My committee is meeting tomorrow at 3:30 in the SA
office.
Colin Giebner, Secretary of Finance: The general reserves stand at $13,131.00.
Richard Bernache and Zaire Peoples, Co-Secretaries of Programming: Our first committee
meeting will be tonight after the meeting.
Andrea Demos, Secretary of Student Life: Committee meetings will be Monday the 12 at 8
pm in the SA office and Wednesday the 28 at 6 pm. We will discuss an amnesty policy, the north
bus, and all of the programing points that were brought up on Orientation Day, as well as the
student art display on the second floor of Dion.
James Baker, Secretary of Student Policy: Today Water Polo is requesting funds and we will
approve our advisors. There are open positions are: Cashman Representative, Canterbury
Representative, Pontigny Representative, Suites Vice President, Suites President, Ethan Allen
Rep, 200s Representative, 400s Representative, Hodson Representative, Quad Vice President,
and a semi-permanent proxy for Alumni Representative.
Meaghan Diffenderfer, Secretary of Communications: Please read the minutes! We spend a
lot of time working on them. There are two people who put Diversity and Inclusion and
Communications as their top choice for committees. If that was you and you didn’t get an email,
please see me. If I am not saying your name correctly, please let me know; if you are late please
see me so I can mark you as present. Diversity and Inclusion members please send me your
schedules.
Approval of the Minutes:
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: This brings us to approval of the minutes.
Jack Loomis, ‘16: I move to approve the minutes.
Jacqui Duffy. ‘17: I second.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion? All those for? Opposed?
Abstentions?
In Favor: 64
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 3
Minutes passed.
Announcements:
Fix it with Five: We are now taking any suggestions for organizations to donate the grant to at
the end of the year.
Tommy Friedman, ’16: Please take note that everyone should consider what we are approving
before just going along with it. And please remember to voice what you have to say because it is
important.
Onion River Review: We will be hjaving an open reading at 7 pm in the Farrell Room on
Wednesday.
RHA: Quidditch is on October 25, we will be tabling after fall break starting the 18th. Teams
must be 7-12 people.
Spanish Club: We are meeting is St. Ed’s 106 on Wednesdays at 8 pm.
IT: The Mac Lab in St Ed’s 115 is public Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 2-5 pm.
Founder’s Society: We are hositng an open house, please be sure to say hi to any families you
see around campus.
Open Forum:
Global Brigades
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I am here because in the spring a local person talked to me about
this service program called Global Brigades and it is a cool opportunity for international service
experience for students would students be interested? I thought it was interesting, different from
extended service, but there were no students involved and I wanted to get feedback from
students. To be transparent, I do not know too much about Global Brigades but I can find the
answer and I do not know what will happen with this, I am really just looking for feedback and
questions. I will report back to Karen Talentino and some others. If this moves forward I may be
back here or it may not go anywhere.
So I really just have a little information to offer. Global Brigades works to improve life in underresourced communities like Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Their mission is to
empower volunteers and under-resourced communities to resolve global health and economic
disparities and inspire all involved to collaboratively work towards an equal world. The impact is
quite large and this organization has existed since 2004.
The issues Global Brigades works on are architecture, business, engineering, environmental, etc.
I highlighted dental, medical, and public health because this is what the community member has
done before and what she thought might be interesting to St. Mike’s and occurs in Nicaragua and
Ghana. Some program details, this is an organization that exists in many institutions across the
world, it is student led which is why I am here to talk to all of you students. Travel usually
happens in May with two days of travel and 5 days of service, so 7 days in total. In the two
countries students work in clinics. There are usually groups of 15-20 students which is more than
our extended service trips. Additionally, there is a fundraising responsibility of $1800 per person
is the expectation and on February 1st there is a deposit. Also different from St. Mike’s, there is
no application required. They simply ask for you to sign up and that is it. They have similar
preparation which in their case consist of webinars but more importantly they take time to talk to
the participant about what they will be doing in country, why it is important, and the impact on
the community. There is a reflection component, which we also do, and the living arrangements
are in a gated community. The woman we spoke to said that it was a safe community.
So that is a quick snippet and I would like to hear questions from you. I would love to know is
there something about this program that grabbed your attention, are there specific questions or
information that you would want to hear before you make a decision.
Dana Scheffler, ’18: I’m curious if you would look at the environmental service trips?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: Initially we have been looking at the health related ones because that
it is what the woman who approached us had done before and what she felt she could collaborate
with St. Mike’s on. I wouldn’t say no to the other ones, they just weren’t part of the
conversation.
Julia Crisman, ’16: Great idea, public health is becoming important at St. Mike’s and the
opportunity to travel to other countries would be great. But also I’m wondering is the fundraising
your contribution to the trip that would pay for everything?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I would have to check, but I believe everything would go to Global
Brigades and they would take care of everything.
Joe Mendes, ’18: Is this more or less expensive than the international service trips?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: It is kind of between the two trips… Does anyone know how much
the India trip is?
Cece Horbat, ’16: $2000
Greg Hamilton, ’16: $2500
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: And how much is the Domincan Republic trip?
Greg Hamilton, ’16: $1000
Jill Kahn, ’17: If it is a signup is it first come first serve?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: If folks are interested we would have to figure out what that
process would look like, so we would need a cutoff at some point.
Richie Bernache, ’16: I think this works really great especially since St. Mike’s has just become
a Peace Corps prep school.
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: Thank you
Julie Caravallo, ’18: Because it is in a clinic do people need any certification?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: My understanding is that anybody who signs up can go. Foreign
languages and interest in the medical profession were also not required.
Jacqui Duffy, ’17: Is there an estimate of how much the trip would cost?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: This program is $1800 for either the Nicaragua trip.
Jacqui Duffy ’17: It is only for 5 days?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: And two days of travel.
Jacqui Duffy, ’17: I know that St. Mike’s subsidizes the cost of these trips and it would be a
little disheartening to pay this much for a trip that is not as expensive as a St. Mike’s trip.
Andrea Demos, ’17: Would someone from the MOVE office be traveling with the trip?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: That would need to be explored. Right now MOVE does not have
the capacity to send someone and our current model has a student and faculty/staff leader and I
don’t know what that would look like with Global Brigades.
Jake Myers, ‘19: Is that $250 dollars down-payment a part of the $1800?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I believe it is part of.
Sophie Adams, ’18: Does Global Brigades have any religious affiliation?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I don’t believe so, does anybody know anything about Global
Brigades?
Elizabeth Rogers, ’17: My high school went with them to Nicaragua. $1800 includes food,
airfare, where you’re staying, and everything you’re donating. They brought a lot of materials to
donate. The community you stay in was with host families in the community so 3 students would
stay with a family and they worked during the day. It was very communal in village houses right
next to each other. I think this is an amazing thing and it seems expensive but the outcome was
that every student I knew who went felt that it changed their life.
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I don’t think there is a religious affiliation.
Elizabeth Rogers, ’17: No there is not.
Meaghan Diffenderfer, ’16: Is there an option to make the trip longer?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I don’t know the answer to that. My sense was no, because a lot of
service trips like this do a Saturday-to-Saturday week. So for an individual to extend their stay
doesn’t typically work for programs like this. Maybe a group from St. Mike’s could go for two
weeks, instead of just one, but I don’t think a few students could stay for a couple extra days.
Taylor Winchester, ’18: If St. Mike’s is going to pursue this when could we expect this to
happen?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: My next step is to present them back to the faculty and staff I’ve
met with, we’ll make a decision about if there is enough student interest. I may reach out to
students to held lead this. Definitely not this year in terms of a trip happening, but perhaps there
will be more conversation in the spring.
Tommy Friedman, ’16: In your opinion is this program worth the cost for what students will
get out of it?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: I don’t think I’m informed enough quite yet. The cost is important
but also the depth of the work that the organization does including reflection and I want to learn
a little more about it.
Right now, with the information you have is this a program you would be interested in?
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Can we count off?
Lara Scott, Dir. Of MOVE: Thank you!
Count: 57 people were interested in getting more information
Vermont Ibutwa Initiative
Cleophace Mukeba, Vermont Ibutwa Initiative: Thank you for inviting me here. People might
ask if this a local organization and my answer would be that it is local because social justice
problems do not have boundaries. During my fact finding mission in the Congo in 2012 I met
with almost 70 women from 5 different villages. They were struggling with three major issues,
access to healthcare, education for their children, an social integration through income generating
jobs. So when I came here before to talk about my program it was pig raising in one village.
Because we are working in a team it took time to go to the village and we also started working
on another program to provide education for children. When we started this program we went to
one village and there were eight participants, 5 adults, 3 young participants who were 2, 4, and 6
years old.
So when we started that program and got the funding from Fix it with Five we wanted to expand
this program to another village. So we brought in 20 women and they came with their children
and we were faced with the situation where we had to pay for the school fees because that it was
what they needed. When we asked the women what they wanted they said we want everything
which means, education, healthcare, and sustainable livelihood. When we got the funding we had
20 women and 90 children. We hired a second field coordinator, unfortunately in April of this
year the first field coordinator passed away. I traveled to Congo in August and then came back.
In total we enrolled 108 children in school because of you, this grant. 17 children came from the
first village, 65 miles away from the other, and we had 91 children from the other
village. We paid for school fees which means that we had to pay for all the fees around the
education which includes a fee every month for a vocational training. You also have construction
fee like a sack of cement. For the second year we had to pay for the state exam fees, backpacks,
and shoes.
This was rewarding because we helped 108 children and additionally the mothers of the children
were really happy. Additionally, the children felt secure and safe in the schools. Ibutwa only paid
for the first half of the school year in case someone dropped out in the middle of the year and we
hired a second food coordinator.
So what are the challenges? The challenge is that this is a one time grant. So maybe my question
for you is should I apply for a second year?
Thank you.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Thank you Cleophace for all that you do.
I’ve never seen someone work so hard.
Water Polo Budget Allocation Request
Water Polo: We are Steven Anderson ’17 captain/coach, Jackie Proctor ’18, Allie Campbell ’18,
Dan Ramos ’17 captain.
Water polo is a club team here on campus, we are able to travel because we are club
status and there are opportunities for us to play games against other clubs in the New England
region. Water polo is a sport where we’re treading water for the entire time, we are passing
around a ball and trying to shoot that ball into a net. It’s a fun sport and we welcome people of
all skill levels.We practice Monday-Thursday 8PM to 9:30PM, the open swim time at the pool.
We currently have 25 members who regularly show up for practice and a few more that show up
every once and a while, a larger number than the past.
History:
2012 – St. Michael’s was enrolled in CWPA (Collegiate Water Polo Association)
2013 – St. Michael’s was suspended from the CWPA league because after the first year they
went to the first two tournaments but didn’t get enough people to go to the championship
tournament.
2014 – Focused on recruiting and building back up the team
2015 – Re-entered CWPA. Already had two huge tournaments they’ve participated in.
Current Budget:
Initial budget this year is $3,000. Spent $2,704 on entrance and participation fee into the CWPA.
Also spent $224 for booking a hotel room for two nights at their second tournament that took
place at Bowdoin College. They have $72 left. They still have the championship tournament to
go to. These numbers don’t include the money they spent out of pocket for gas. Had a mother
provide a dinner for them on Sunday so they didn’t have to pay for that food.
Problem:
They complete three tournaments, UVM – Sept. 26th/27th, Bowdoin – Oct. 3rd/4th, Bowdoin –
Oct. 17th/18th. They don’t have enough funds for gas money or lodging for the whole team to
make it to their last tournament.
Proposed Necessary Funds:
Round-trip to Bowdoin estimated $120 for gas, $240 for 2 vans, 3 hotel rooms for 2 nights
would be about $600. Total amount needed = $840. Club members will cover their own meals,
they will try to fit as many people as they can into the hotel rooms and also bring sleeping bags
and try to find people at Bowdoin to host them.
Questions?
Jack Loomis ’16: Club sports get shafted a lot I believe budget wise, you guys put in an
immense amount of work clearly you scrap up what you can as demonstrated and you are clearly
not try to go live in some lavish community like you’re willing to freakin tent so when it comes
times to make motions you have to consider the amount of work these guys put it and how well
they represent our community so thank you guys.
Marisa Kelemen ’18: With the tournaments you’ve gone to, if you normally go to those
tournaments why is there a lack of money this year?
Water Polo: In the past, the past two years before this year we were allocated 3500 dollars, but
because we weren’t in the league we didn’t have to pay the league fees which was $2700 so
because we didn’t have to pay those league fees we had $3500 which we had never spent all of
because there was not a lot of reason. Especially like last year we bought brand new balls for the
team because all the balls we had were kind of garbage. We bought a new set of caps which have
gone a long way so far but with the increased amount of people eventually in the future we might
need more and we bought a score board.
And also our team has grown a lot this year we’re one of the teams that has the most girls, it’s
kind of a cool thing. We almost have 25.
So because we have so many more people it does cost a little bit more money. But we don’t have
everyone go to the tournaments.
Joseph Mendes, ’18: Did you not know you were going to go to this competition during budget
allocations?
Water Polo: We knew we were going but again our budget was $3500 last year and our team
last year was maybe like 10 people so we wouldn’t have really needed that much money and
now our team is over 20 people and it costs a lot more to travel with that many people.
Matt Ayers ’17: I know it’s expensive to enter your league and that’s going to be a competitive
issue year after year. You guys have a great outcome at practices its totally fun but something to
think about long term, if we do approve to give you guys money is this going to be the same
speech we’re going to get next year? Maybe you could think of long term fundraising projects.
Dana Schleffer ’18: if we give them the money now they won’t be suspended because if they
get suspended then they have to come back and pay 2700 dollars again.
Alex Ho ’17: how much on average has each club member spent out of pocket?
Water Polo: At UVM about fifteen dollars. Bowdoin about 50 dollars out of pocket.
Cece Horbat ’16: clearly these guys do a lot of work and they have a lot of fun and it Dan’s dad
has to pay for a hotel. We are student association we are supporting these clubs I think these
guys should get the proper funding for what they need to do, have a good time, enjoy St. Mike’s,
also is it a possibility that their budget overall can just get increased?
Colin Giebner, Secretary of Finance: their overall budget can’t go up until the end of the
semester.
SA Advisors
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Now we’re going to go through
presenting the advisors. *reads advisor section of constitution*
Allison Gardner – Alumni and Parent relations. “I graduated from St. Michael’s in 2005 and
during my time here I served as a co-secretary of programming on the E-board.” Has completed
five full marathons and seven half marathons.
Grace Kelly – Director of student activities/coordinator of new student orientation. “SMC is an
incredible community that accepts individuals for who they are and supports them to become the
very best they can be. And we are a community of values and work to put our values into action
through service to others and the betterment of our immediate and surrounding community.”
Was an au pair in Paris for 8 months.
Rob Robinson – Director of financial planning and business services. “I can use my professional
talents, and see the impact of what I do on a daily basis.” Rob owns more bicycles then he cares
to admit.
Questions:
Tommy Friedman, ’16: what are we exactly voting on?
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: to approve the individuals and each is
done on an individual vote. All three can win.
Old Business:
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: There is no old business.
New Business:
Joseph Mendes, ’18: I move to allocate $840.00 from the general reserves to Water Polo.
Alex Ho, ’17: I second.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion?
Taylor Winchester, ’18: I would like to add a friendly amendment that they receive the money
with the condition that they can provide a plan so that this will not happen in the future.
Dan Brogan, ’18: I think it would be wise to put a deadline in place for this.
Zack Maroon, ’17: Is the fee a one year thing?
Water Polo: It is every year.
Jake Myers, ’19: I move to second the amendment.
Joseph Mendes, ’18: I accept the amendment.
Andrea Demos, ’17: Can we have Colin speak about a realistic deadline for the budget plan?
Colin Giebner, ’18: At the end of this semester, I will be talking with all of the clubs regarding
money used and plan to be used. At the end of the year we have budget allocations for the next
year. One of the hard things with club sports is that you never know how many club members
you have. Allocations are also dependent on the money allocated for SA how much each club is
able to receive.
Richie Bernache, ’16: We are not on campus for the recommended deadline.
Joseph Mendes, ’18: I would like to recommend the end of fall semester.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: All those in favor of allocating $840.00
with a budget plan by the end of the semester? Opposed? Abstentions?
In Favor: 63
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 1
Motion Passes.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: would the advisers please leave the room.
Jack Loomis ’16: I move to approve Grace Kelly as SA Advisor.
Sydney Rybicki, ’18: I second
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion?
Tommy Friedman ‘16- I am confused why the same advisers get chosen every year, I think
that’s great. Why can’t we ever have change?
Richard Bernache Secretaries of Programming: We work very closely with specific advisers,
it incredible having experience that we know already works. They also know all of the contacts
that we need to make events happen. Grace helps us go through Higher Ground to get the Spring
Concert. Rob allows Colin to do his job and monitor everyone’s budget. They have specific
skills the E-Board needs to do their job.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: If you would like to put forward other
candidates in the future you may do so. This is your vote and your senate. In the past advisers
from many different positions have been selected. It works well for Grace because she can see
and get involved with student functions. Dave Landers the psych professor was a great adviser.
Anyone could be an adviser if they wanted to.
Tommy Friedman, ‘16: What influence do the advisers have? Can they vote?
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: No they don’t vote. They give advice, but
also for programming the adviser has to approve concerts and events beforehand. They can voice
their opinions but, the votes are up to us as a student association.
Matt Ayers ‘17: I make a motion to end discussion.
Julia Crisman ‘16: I second
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: We must vote to end discussion. I owe
you all food next meeting anyway because we are overtime. Those in favor of ending discussion?
Opposed? Abstentions?
In Favor: 60
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 2
Discussion ends.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Vote to approve Grace Kelly. In favor?
Opposed? Abstentions?
In Favor: 59
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 5
Motion Passes.
Sarah Terry, ‘18: I move to approve Allison Gardner as adviser.
Marissa Kelemen, ‘18: I second.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion? All those for? Opposed?
Abstentions?
In Favor: 56
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 7
Motion Passes.
Jay Schwartz ‘17: I move to approve Rob Robinson as an adviser.
Alex Ho ‘17: I second
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion? All those for? Opposed?
Abstentions?
In Favor: 55
Opposed: 1
Abstain: 7
Motion Passes.
Adjournment
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Constitution revisions next week.
Jack Loomis 16’: I move to adjourn
Alex Ho ’17: I second.
Shannon McQueen, Student Association President: Discussion? All those for? Opposed?
Abstentions?
In Favor: 64
Opposed: 0
Abstain: 7
Motion passes.
End Time: 8: 23.