By Kate Hawthorne, Arts Editor
The doors to Goodhart Theater opened at 6:30 p.m. on October 1, welcoming Bryn Mawr students to Fall Plenary. While waiting to reach quorum, students enjoyed performances by Ajoyo, a Bryn Mawr Dance group that celebrates African culture, and another by the Night Owls, the official acapella group of the college. Quorum was achieved in under an hour, and signaled the official start of plenary. Five resolutions were presented, all of which passed with fairly large margins of victory.
The first resolution proposed the implementation of 24/7 access to academic buildings for study purposes, given that Canaday Library no longer has such access. While the buildings themselves are often open late, the classrooms and other areas of study usually remain locked, leaving off-campus students and residents of Brecon without places to work late at night. To ensure safety, all buildings would require One-Card access for late hours.
The second resolution raised no questions from the audience and passed with a landslide majority, as did the fourth resolution. The second resolution asked for more transparency regarding the actions of the Campus Safety Committee on campus, while the fourth resolution proposed the creation of a new Social Justice and Equity Task Force, which will work under the auspices of the Chair of Social Justice and Equity, a new position as of Fall 2017.
When it was time for the third resolution, the Wifi in Goodhart started acting up, and Voxvote, the application used for voting, began to stop working for many students. However, the student volunteers were ready to count any votes that didn’t go through on Voxvote manually, and Plenary proceeded.
The third resolution proposed that the college hire a dean with a STEM degree, in order to better assist the large number of STEM majors at Bryn Mawr. The sponsor of the proposal, Geeta Sharma ‘20, also indicated that as an interim measure, the college could hire upper class STEM students as temporary advisors, a position which many STEM majors already fulfill for their underclassmen friends.
The new dean would have the regular workload of the other deans. Their responsibility as the Dean of STEM would be similar to Dean Cann’s responsibilities as the Dean of Study Abroad. The exact qualifications for this position, whether it be an undergraduate STEM degree or undergraduate and graduate STEM degree, would be decided upon by the college.
The final resolution was in regard to administrative accountability. This resolution asked for each department to release semesterly reports on the semester’s occurrences, and plans for the departments future, along with student Q and A sessions with department leaders and other possible engagement opportunities. During this vote, Voxvote lost quorum, leading to a complete manual count of the vote, in which quorum was regained and the resolution was passed.
Plenary concluded at 9:30 p.m., lasting for approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, with the passage of all five resolutions presented.
Photo Courtesy of Bryn Mawr SGA
