Student Government’s Sept. 5 meeting resulted in a decision on this year’s student activities fee, an update on student conduct and the introduction of three new members and two previously-ex-officio members.

Mark Sapara, the associate vice president for student life, attended the meeting to discuss the current student activities fee. A total of $288,964 was overallocated by Student Government on student organizations, according to Sapara – $1.179 million to $890,000 allocated. Sapara stated that the surplus was not a “horrible thing to do” for a short period, but advised that the organization should aim to reduce it.

He warned that if overspending becomes habitual, then budget requests from clubs will have to be turned down more frequently and recommended to maintain the current student activity fee included in tuition.

President Thania Hernandez ‘25 motioned to keep the student activities fee at $360, citing inflation and a history of underfunded clubs as reasons to not increase the cost. The vote was unanimous in favor of keeping the fee at the same amount.

Austin Haytko, the director of student conduct, then introduced restorative practice and restorative justice options as the new approaches for behavioral conduct violations.

A notable change in this approach is that students with behavioral conduct violations will no longer receive fines, as it disproportionately affects people of color and low-income students, according to Haytko. The organization responded positively to the proposals.

Five new members were added to the Student Government roster, including two ex-officio members who have returned from studying abroad: Tori Hneleski ’25, Shanza Asif ’27 and CJ Conrad ’27, and returning members Anna Fenkel ’25 and former Student Government President Olivia Puzio ’25.

Allison Williams also introduced herself as Student Government’s new advisor, as she begins her role as the associate director of student involvement at Lafayette.

The general body then discussed budget approvals. This semester, the budget committee plans to cap the allocations for student organizations at $250,000, in addition to $30,000 set aside for unanticipated needs, according to Student Government Treasurer Christo Maheras ’26. Fall budgets for student organizations were due last week.

A correction was made on September 12, 2024: A previous version of this article stated that Student Government overspent $288,964 on student organizations without the context of the allocation of fees and Sapara’s recommendations to the organization.

A correction was made on September 12, 2024: A previous version of this article stated that Fenkel and Puzio were ex-officio members. They were voted in as official voting representatives this summer.