Here is the breakdown for Student Government’s Nov. 16 meeting.
Agenda Posting
The bylaws state that Student Government meetings may only take place if the agenda is posted 12 hours in advance. The agenda was posted on Nov. 15, 22 hours before the meeting.
Quorum
According to the minutes, Student Government met quorum at 7:05 p.m. and started the meeting promptly at 7:05 p.m. The meeting did not start until 7:11 p.m. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Decorum
The Student Government constitution states that “the rules contained in the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern all actions of the Student Government.”
During the Nov. 16 meeting, representatives largely followed Robert’s Rules of Order.
Agenda completion
Student Government accomplished everything on its agenda for Nov. 16 in approximately 40 minutes. Much of the time was taken up by a discussion about The Lafayette and new guidelines to interact with journalists. Following this, parliamentarian Chris Kirch ’26 proposed adding three new amendments to the bylaws before the start of the new term. A brief committee session took place, which ended at 7:55 p.m. The resignations of Ani Brutus ’26 and Matwos Tadesse ’24, a former Student Government president, were also announced, which was the primary discussion topic at the open floor session.
Meeting minutes
Under Student Government bylaws, meeting minutes are required to note the names of absent and tardy representatives, as well as an accurate text of each motion and amendment made.
The Nov. 16 meeting minutes contained the latter component, but included a glaringly inaccurate attendance count. It listed Trebor Maitin ’24, who resigned in October, as the parliamentarian present at the meeting, and Jermaine Grant ’24, who resigned in September, as a present representative. Six people who were not in attendance were listed as present in addition to Maitin and Grant. The original minutes also did not record any absences, despite the master attendance list reporting seven absences including President Olivia Puzio ’25 and inclusivity officer Mariama Bah ’24.
Vice president Thania Hernandez ’25, who presided over the meeting in Puzio’s absence was not listed as present. Representative Melina Panagakos ’24, who was also present, was not included in the list. Chris Kirch ’26, who is the parliamentarian, was listed as a representative.
The Lafayette brought these errors to the attention of Student Government on Thursday and the attendance list was amended before the minutes were officially adopted.
Following a meeting, the communications officer is required to send the meeting minutes — containing a record of all meeting proceedings — to relevant parties including The Lafayette, faculty governance, head resident advisors and fraternity and sorority presidents.
Several of these parties were confirmed to have been sent the unofficial minutes by the communications officer following the meeting’s conclusion.
Editor’s note 11/30/2023: This article has been updated to note inaccuracies present in the meeting minutes. Access to the minutes was not provided to The Lafayette until after print publication.
