A lack of senators present at the April 24 meeting caused confusion in quarterly reports and legislation
By AALIYAH ESPAÑOL-RIVAS — campus@aggie.org
The ASUCD Senate heard a quarterly report and a proposed resolution at its April 24 meeting, called to order at 6:33 p.m. after technical delays and miscommunication between senators over whether the meeting was to be held at all.
Only three of 12 senators were physically present at the meeting: Mia Cohen, Zack Dollins and Amrita Julka. Six others joined the meeting through Zoom: Senators Siddharth Jasthi, Nanki Kaur, Lexi Raben, Solana Rodriguez, Dhilena Wickramasinghe and Jenna Younes.
At the start of the meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., ASUCD Internal Vice President Aaminah Mohammad expressed frustration with the elected officials present for an setting up the meeting earlier and instead waiting for her arrival.
“It is the responsibility of the people here to set up the [Senate] meeting,” Mohammad said. “It is a joint responsibility. You guys can’t just sit around waiting for me to come and set up the meeting when I have a mandatory class that ends at 6 p.m.”
Julka agreed with Mohammad’s sentiment and attributed the shortcoming to the lack of officials present.
“I think the confusion was just in the fact that literally nobody was here [in person],” Julka said.
Mohammad responded to this comment, voiced her disappointment with those who did not give prior notice of their physical absence.
“That is kind of disappointing,” Mohammad said. “It is your job, the one thing you’re supposed to do. Thank you to everyone who is actually here and is doing their job, it means a lot. And thank you to those who told me beforehand they couldn’t make it. But for everyone else, this is lowkey ridiculous.”
Quarterly Reports:
While originally slated to hear two reports, due to miscommunication and the absence of senators at the scheduled meeting start time of 6 p.m., members of Creative Media and Aggie Studios were incorrectly told that there would be no Senate meeting.
The Senate instead heard only one quarterly report from Picnic Day. Picnic Day 2025 had a high turnout and successfully introduced the “Picnic Day Pitstop” on Russell Field, according to Chair Mina Sarmah and Vice Chair Rishita Dwivedi.
For next year, they hope to speed up the hiring process, reach out to Greek life organizations for volunteering, bring back food booths and have smaller hotspots around campus to split foot traffic. In the long run, they hope to improve local sponsorship, increase sustainability and expand opportunities for more students to join their team.
Legislation:
Senate Bill #75, seeking to allocate $607.50 to the Office of Senator Julka for ASUCD Study Jams on April 30 and June 4, was withdrawn during the meeting.
The table then considered Senate Resolution (SR) #11, introduced by Dollins. The resolution seeks to “demonstrate association-wide support for the funding of the Botanical Conservatory on campus,” in light of its possible shut-down due to University of California-wide budget cuts set to occur next year.
External Affairs Commission Chair Henry Rosenbach raised concerns about the resolution, explaining that he felt no real call to action was expressed.
“The resolution has a wonderful cause,” Rosenbach said. “But it just lacks action. I think it would benefit from a bit more digging and more actual solutions proposed. We need concrete solutions, especially if we’re gonna be sending this to chancellors and deans.”
SR#11 was then tabled for the following Senate meeting.
Open forum:
Following legislation and approval of past meeting minutes, the Senate moved into open forum.
Cohen took a moment to recognize April 24 as Holocaust Remembrance Day, sharing her family’s history, as well as her feelings about antisemitism at the Senate table.
“Today is a really hard day for Jewish students,” Cohen said. “It is Holocaust Remembrance Day, which marks a horrific period where millions of Jews were killed. If my great-grandparents hadn’t left the ghetto and come to America less than a century ago, I would not be here today. They never heard back from anybody. It frightens me to see the antisemitism, especially at this table. I don’t want to relive what my ancestors had to go through, it is unacceptable.”
Younes then asked senators to spread the word about a newly launched project that allows registered student organizations to fundraise in the Coffee House.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
Written by: Aaliyah Español-Rivas — campus@theaggie.org
