GUSA elected a new slate of adjuncts and liaisons to the Finance and Appropriations (FinApp) committee as well as an Ethics and Oversight Senate Representative, and discussed how to provide support to students staying on campus over winter break at their Nov. 21 meeting.
GUSA President Nile Blass (COL ’22) met with university administrators the previous week to discuss what support the university will provide students staying on campus during winter break. Administrators plan to provide housing to students in the Georgetown Scholars Program (GSP) and international students, though there is no current plan to extend support to anyone else.
Moreover, the university plans to move these students into the hotel if they remain on campus unless they live in a townhouse. According to Blass, the university explained that this was as a matter of safety and consolidation of resources; enforcement mechanisms, however, remain unclear. Administrators also suggested that utilities in the dormitories may be shut off to ensure compliance, according to Blass.
“It is my understanding that they’re shutting off heating and stuff—that seems to be their safeguard to make sure that we don’t stay,” Blass said.
She added it appeared as though the university lacks internal communication on how to handle students staying over winter break.
“It also seems as though the administration isn’t having a lot of communication internally as it relates to winter break support,” Blass said. “They found out from us that GSP isn’t doing financial grants. They thought that it was a given.”
The executive also provided updates on the work it is doing surrounding the college consortium project, the GU272 referendum, and its campaign promises to use GUSA funds to provide direct aid to students. More universities have signed on to the consortium—including Syracuse, Spellman, and Howard—which will meet next on Dec. 4. GUSA also plans to hold a Dec. 1 town hall regarding Georgetown’s failure to uphold the results of the GU272 referendum and to launch a website consolidating activism around the project. Finally, the executive shared that it aims to use its own budget to buy and deliver items to students in need of food or medication, along with a set of laptops for students to borrow.
The Finance and Appropriations Committee elected Sen. Thomas Ormsby (COL ’23), Sen. Phoebe Chambers (SFS ’25), and Sen. Lara Sophia Santana (SFS ’24) to serve as the new FinApp adjuncts as well as Sen. John DiPierri (SFS ’25), Sen. Alicia Gopal (COL ’25), Sen. Kathryn Yang (SFS ’23), Sen. Mirka Sosa (COL ’23), Sen. Joshua Bernard-Pearl (SFS ‘25), Sen. Johnny Sussek (COL ’24), Sen. Chijioke Achebe (SFS ’25), Sen. Manahal Fazal (SFS ’24), and Sen. Penelope Riley (COL ’22) to serve as the new FinApp liaisons.
The Ethics and Oversight committee elected Sen. Alyssa Hirai (SFS ’24) as Ethics and Oversight Senate Representative.
The Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the university to extend dining hours at Leo J. O’Donovan dining hall and Epicurean. During the debate over the legislation, it was mentioned that the resolution joins a long body of advocacy around this issue—and that action will require much broader conversations beyond the Senate.
GUSA’s next meeting time has yet to be announced due to Thanksgiving break.
