Welcome to the Voice’s GUSA news briefs! To keep our readers up-to-date on the changes that will affect them at Georgetown, we’re posting a biweekly round-up of some of the important projects and legislation covered at GUSA Senate meetings. Here’s what you need to know from this week’s meeting on Sunday, Oct. 20:
Elections!
GUSA will be holding elections for its Executive and Senate positions from Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. to Thursday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. Students will be able to vote online during that time frame.
GUSA executive campaigns will begin on Oct. 23. Senate campaigns will start one week before elections.
Other Recent Updates: Epi’s Late-Night Buffet
As of Oct. 17, Epi’s will now be running a late-night buffet from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Thursday through Sunday, expanding access to late-night food on campus. The buffet will serve breakfast foods and appetizers.
Passed Legislation: Debit Dollars, LinkedIn Premium, and Mail Services
The GUSA Senate voted on and passed three pieces of legislation at their Oct. 20 meeting. Once passed, the senators who presented the legislation will work with GUSA Executive and university administrators to try to implement the proposals:
1. An ACT to Provide Students with Debit Dollars, introduced by Senator Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26)
- What will happen: This act will change students’ meal plans to cut the amount of Flex dollars they normally receive in half and replace the other half with debit dollars.
- Why should I care? Flex dollars can only be used to purchase food items, whereas debit dollars can be used to buy toiletries, medication, and household items at locations that accept them, like Vital Vittles or Hoya Snaxa. For low-income students, having to spend their own money on non-food necessities can be an extra financial burden, and automatically including debit dollars in students’ meal plans could alleviate some of that pressure. Plus, debit dollars can still be used to buy food—including at some off-campus locations like Wingo’s and Wisey’s.
2. An ACT to Provide Campus-Wide Access to LinkedIn Premium, introduced by Speaker Meriam Ahmad (SFS ’26) and Senator Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26)
- What will happen: This act would create a partnership between Georgetown and LinkedIn to provide students with access to LinkedIn Premium accounts. Senators discussed potentially launching a pilot program with Georgetown Scholars Program students before expanding to the rest of the school.
- Why should I care? LinkedIn Premium subscriptions let users tag jobs as their top choice, find out if they’re in the top percentage of applicants, use AI assistance for interview prep and profile writing, and see who last viewed their profile. LinkedIn Premium Career plans cost $29.99/month, which can be inaccessibly expensive. A partnership between Georgetown and LinkedIn could cut these costs and allow more students to take advantage of useful tools for job searches.
- Side note: All Georgetown students, faculty, and staff already have access to LinkedIn Learning through Lau, which offers courses in career development and technology skills like business management, Excel, and media production.
3. An ACT to Improve the Mail System, introduced by Senator Sienna Lipton (CAS ’27)
- What will happen: This act will direct the GUSA Senate to inquire about Georgetown’s current mail service policies and work on establishing more communication between Mail Services and student government. GUSA will also request that Mail Services create a form so that students can report delayed packages or offer other feedback.
- Why should I care? The bill is meant to address issues resulting from service delays and business hours at the mail center. The act notes that students have raised issues with sensitive packages like medication or ballots being left outside the mail lockers, or waiting several days after their packages are delivered to Georgetown to be able to pick them up at the mailroom. GUSA has opened lines of communication like the Student Dining Committee to bring students’ concerns to administration in the past, so this act could add more opportunities for engagement around mail issues.
