As the end of the year quickly approaches, Senate is busy wrapping up projects and preparing for next years new administration of Student Government. Despite dwindling time, there are several significant projects that are being confirmed and finished by the Senate in these last couple weeks of the semester. For example, the Student Affairs Committee brought forth a resolution concerning the current parking situation on campus, which was passed unanimously by Senate in our last meeting.

During the two semesters, the Student Affairs Committee successfully passed a resolution regarding the attendance policy for Senate and Committee Meetings, managed to negotiate healthier food at Frank Dining Hall through multiple meetings with George Murray, organized the Unity March and distributed T-shirts for the event, and just passed the parking resolution that will be put in place next fall on a trial basis to allow students to park in more locations on campus. In addition, the Student Affairs Committee has set up a project to be undertaken next fall that will investigate securing a DVD movie rental system for students in the Coop. The External Affairs Committee is ending the year on a strong note as well. After the huge success of the Tolerance Contest with the Hamilton High School, the External Affairs Committee is looking to get Senate approval this week on its latest project concerning first-year orientation. If their initiative is passed this week in Senate, the orientation process will include a discussion of Colgate’s relationship to the Village of Hamilton, with particular emphasis on how to respect the local residents. The Government Affairs Committee has their hands full as well as the year ends with projects of their own.

Throughout the year, the Government Affairs Committee worked extremely hard to clarify and streamline the structure of the Student Government Association, which led to the restructuring of the election process for members of the Executive branch. As its end of the year project, the GAC is compiling a mission statement to guide the incoming government administration and Senate for next year. The Academic Affairs Committee spent their efforts this year on securing longer hours for the Case-Geyer library during finals week, as well as focusing on the revision process of the Core Curriculum. Specifically, the Academic Affairs Committee successfully communicated the opinions of all the Senators to the Academic Affairs Board to ensure that the voices of student representatives were heard regarding the Core revision process.

Last but not least, the Student Organizations Committee ended the year on a strong note as well, spending most of its efforts working with new groups on campus and reworking the bylaws that control funding and recognition of student groups. As Speaker of the Senate, I look back on this academic year as it comes to a close with pride, knowing that Senate made tangible improvements to Colgate campus. For the future, the student body can rest assured that the projects planned for next fall will make Colgate an even better place and Senate will continue to work hard with student interests in mind.