Student Council met for its sixth general body meeting of the semester Tuesday and announced several appointments to the new Commission for Legitimacy, Electoral Accountability and Reform. Student Council also announced several other cabinet appointments and discussed concerns surrounding parking on Central Grounds.
The Commission was passed at the Sept. 15 general body meeting and aims to examine how the University Board of Elections is currently organized and operates before recommending changes based on its findings.
Philippe Hempel, chair of the Representative Body and fourth-year Architecture student, announced that third-year College Rep. Lucas Addison, Kayla Kim, fourth-year Data Science Rep. and second-year College Rep. Titus Ngouepo will serve on the Commission, filling the seats reserved for Student Council representatives. Addison will also serve as chair of the Commission.
Hempel also announced that Marwa Ahsan, Fourth-Year Trustees vice president and Commerce student, and Eastan Weber, Second-Year Council Rep. and College student, will serve as the Class Council representatives on the Commission. UBE selected Livia Shrednick, UBE vice chair for rules and administration and second-year College student, to serve as its nonvoting advisory representative on the Commission.
Both the University Judiciary Committee and the Honor Committee declined to appoint a representative. One additional seat remains to be appointed by Addison in his capacity as chair.
Student Council also passed several pieces of legislation confirming director appointments to its various branches. Third-year Commerce student Caroline Haig was confirmed to serve as co-director of organizations recognition, which reviews applications for Contracted Independent Organization status and assists student organizations as they work toward becoming recognized CIOs.
Second-year College student Chelsea Winch and second-year College student Khaliun Enkhbold were also confirmed to serve as co-directors of the marketing committee, which oversees the development of Student Council marketing materials. Additionally, graduate Batten student Talmadge Gunter was confirmed to serve as director of graduate affairs, which serves as the policy-making body for addressing graduate student issues.
While delivering brief remarks before his confirmation, Gunter noted that he would like to increase outreach and participation in student self-governance among graduate students.
“I think the first step is just having an open conversation,” Gunter said. “I acknowledge that as an [accelerated] student, I am not the average Batten student, but we are still Batten students and graduate students just like anybody else, and one advantage that I do have is that I do understand the way Student Council works to a point that not every graduate student [does].”
Clint Wilson, chief of support and access services and second-year College student, also provided information concerning the Cavalier Career Closet. Last year, the closet saw 1,291 visits and 475 voucher requests from students seeking business attire. Only 140 requests were approved, which was the maximum number of vouchers that Student Council could provide. All available vouchers were used within two and a half weeks of the closet opening.
Wilson noted that he would like to increase the number of vouchers available for the Career Closet in the future and look for more sponsors and donors to support the closet.
Student Council also passed legislation to approve a new CIO, the Beauty in Business Club at U.Va. According to its webpage, the organization aims to help students develop beauty-industry and entrepreneurship skills through workshops, events and business opportunities on Grounds.
Benvin Lozada, J.D./Ph.D. candidate and rules and ethics chair, raised concerns about parking on Grounds, highlighting how parking around Edgar Shannon Library is now permit-only all-day, decreasing the amount of available parking around Central Grounds.
“Parking on Central Grounds after 5 p.m. has, over the past couple years, been getting … substantially more difficult to do without paying,” Lozada said. “And I think that for students [and] for our commuter students it becomes a little bit trickier to access a lot of the amenities that we have.”
Addison shared concerns about parking on Grounds, noting that it feels like the University is trying to make money through ticketing.
“It doesn't feel like this is for the sake of … ensuring that people get their parking passes,” Addison said. “It just feels like the University is trying to get more money, and that's something that I feel needs to be emphasized on our part.”
Student Council will not reconvene Tuesday due to Fall Reading Days, although it will reconvene the following Tuesday, Oct. 13, for its regularly scheduled general body meeting.
Lucia Gambacini is a senior writer on the news desk covering Student Council and other topics pertaining to student life and government. She is a third-year College student from Richmond studying Political and Social Thought.
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