On Saturday, April 15th, SGA President Bryn Osborne ’24, ended her term with one last email. Her announcement included the voting results of the Spring 2024 Plenary and her passing the torch to 2024-2025 SGA President Cole Churchill ’25. The Bryn Mawr College Student body met quorum quite quickly in both the in-person session and at the polls, with over 60% of the student population casting their ballots. Each of the twelve proposed resolutions passed, even the ones that received the most debate during Plenary
Bureaucratic changes including SGA constitution and position updates, reaffirmations and recommitment to honor code, and updates to the Student Finance Committee bylaws all passed with over 90% “yes” votes. Around 80% of students voted “yes” for the passage of an amendment adding AI guidelines to the honor code. This resolution bans the usage of generative AI in all classroom assignments and activities, unless otherwise specified by professors. It is important to note that this resolution does not ban other uses of other AI, like Grammarly, that do not generate content.
Additionally, within the next academic year, students should expect to see the creation of a new committee on the SGA, Students for Disability Justice. This resolution passed with 96.2% of student approval. It was proposed as a solution to the barriers faced by the Access Services Committee within Bryn Mawr’s Access Services Department. This new committee will take a more active role in campaigning for and advocating for disability rights for students on campus.
Along with the establishment of this committee, students have voted in favor of the establishment of an Ethical Spending Committee within the SGA. This committee will focus on tracking data on club spending of SGA funds and work as an educational tool for students and clubs seeking to spend their money more ethically. The resolution itself draws inspiration from the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which advocates for Palestinian liberation through cultural and economic divestment from Israel. The movement itself also has ties to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
Updates to campus infrastructure are now in motion as well as the resolution for the establishment of a campus food-pantry and the reestablishment of the SGA kitchen on Cambrian Row. The establishment of a campus-wide food-pantry would give students access to food twenty-four hours a day, adding the College to the Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Initiative. This resolution passed by a little over 80%, ushering in potential for more on campus cooking and food options. Continuing the trend of food and cooking related resolutions, students living in Rhoads North and the ILLC next year should expect to see newly painted tea pantries, ridding the spaces of what some have deemed an ‘unsettling’ red.
Finally, Mawrters passed of Resolution 11, which demands that Bryn Mawr College call for an Immediate and Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza. The vote passed with exactly 89.7% of the vote. This resolution grounds in language aligning itself with the Bryn Mawr College Honor Code and was presented by the Bi-College SJP (Student Justice for Palestine) and the JVP (Jewish Voices for Peace). With the passage of this resolution, Bryn Mawr Colleges joins other scholastic institutions across the United States and around the world in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. This resolution not only codifies the idea of SGA resolutions acting as political statements on behalf of the student body, but sets precedent for the potentiality of more politically active statements made by the Bryn Mawr student body in the future.
Resolutions are passed through a simple majority vote and resolution writers will work with both the SGA board and Administration in order to implement resolutions in the coming academic years. Students with any questions surrounding the results, the resolutions, or Plenary in general are encouraged to reach out to SGA through the email sga@brynmawr.edu and they may also consult the SGA website.
2024 Spring Plenary Results:
Resolution #1: Reaffirmation of the SGA Constitution
Yes: 99.8%
No: 0.2%
Resolution #2: Recommitment to the Values of the Honor Code
Yes: 99.7%
No: 0.2%
Abstain: 0.1%
Resolution #3: Addition of AI Guidelines to the Bryn Mawr College Honor Code
Yes: 79.9%
No: 9.5%
Abstain: 10.6%
Resolution #4: Changes to the SGA Constitution Regarding SGA Treasurer Role Description
Yes: 90.1%
No: 0.5%
Abstain: 9.4%
Resolution #5: Student Finance Committee (SFC) Bylaws Updates
Yes: 91.5%
No: 0.7%
Abstain: 7.8%
Resolution #6: Creation of the Students for Disability Justice Committee
Yes: 96.2%
No: 0.4%
Abstain: 3.4%
Resolution #7: Routine Updates to the SGA Constitution
Yes: 94.9%
No: 0.1%
Abstain: 5%
Resolution #8: Repainting the Tea Pantries in Rhoads
Yes: 80.4%
No: 9.4%
Abstain: 10.2%
Resolution #9: Creating a Food Pantry at Bryn Mawr College
Yes: 96.4%
No: 1.1%
Abstain: 2.5%
Resolution #10: Reestablishment of the SGA Kitchen and Reworking of the SLAWC
Yes: 82.9%
No: 6.3%
Abstain: 10.8%
Resolution #11: Calling for an Immediate and Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza
Yes: 89.7%
No: 4%
Abstain: 6.3%
Resolution #12: The Development of an SGA Ethical Spending Committee
Yes: 77.4%
No: 9.3%
Abstain: 13.3%
