The Student Government Association decided to confirm a new feedback process for clubs at their second meeting of the school year on Nov. 30. The new feedback process was proposed by Class of 2022 Chair, Eva Danielson, who titled the program “Don’t Slack on Feedback.” The process began with a form on the Wheaton Engage webpage, where people could share feedback and suggestions about how events were run, which SGA would then send to the appropriate club.
Danielson noted that this process was “an additional method of receiving feedback” and wouldn’t replace or override any measures currently being done by any Wheaton clubs. Mikaela Savarese ’22, the SGA Accessibility Chair, was “hesitant if [collecting feedback for clubs] was SGA’s place,” but she was supportive of the proposal, calling it a “very good idea.” In response to SGA members being concerned about someone submitting something such as a bias incident through it, Danielson said that the program was not meant to tackle “serious concerns” and reports on the same level as bias incidents would be referred appropriately.
Danielson suggested that the SGA Operations Committee would be most applicable in running this program. Meshal Muzaffar ’21, Hearing Board Chair, was unsure if the Operations Committee was the right forum for this, citing their own position as Hearing Board Chair and the “training [Hearing Board Members] receive before they are even allowed to hear a case,” though it was eventually decided that Operations would oversee the program.
Class of 2023 Chair, Cleef Jonathas, led a presentation titled “Deeper Dives with SGA,” hoping to partner with the Wheaton Wire, the Wheaton community, and the SGA Outreach Committee. The presentation “proposes a way that SGA can take a stance advocating for minorities, segregated individuals, and the mistreatment of women.” The proposal did not pass the motion to get voted on, though members of SGA seemed open to revoting on it given further development.
Jonathas believes that SGA taking this step “is so important [given] our current situation” and mentioned that the purpose of the project is to “get perspectives [of the community].” Savarese thought it “was a great way to get people to listen more to individual stories” and asked if Jonathas had “certain groups in mind” for representation in these stories. Sophie Waters ’23, SGA Secretary, mentioned their work in attempting to connect people to the Engage page, calling it “brutal” and noting that “people are not receptive to [reading] Engage.”
Sofie Weston, Class of 2022 Communications and Marketing Member, was worried about members of the committee only interviewing their friends who “are similarly minded” and that the program would become politicized. Jonathas responded that “none of [the content would be] political” and that the program would focus on “experiences of the community.” SGA Treasurer, Guthrie Hartsfield ’23, noted that he believes the issues being addressed here are “very sensitive” and does not think you can avoid “having them be political.”
SGA Vice President, Abby Cook, mentioned that SGA plans to send SGA minutes to the entire community “to [ensure] transparency.” SGA Advisor, Nicole Lombardi, mentioned the success of Family and Friends Weekend, held last weekend. Lombardi also mentioned that on Oct. 22 at 5 p.m., there will be a virtual admissions session run by student leaders and asked for SGA members to volunteer to help run it.
Kimberly Ekstrand ’21, the PAC Chair, led a presentation about updating the PAC Constitution. Ekstrand mentioned that a PAC Sub Board was broken up because of COVID-19 concerns, and mentioned that the two PAC Vice Chairs had “been merged into one.” The proposed changes would also allow for “unlimited excused absences,” citing COVID-19 again for this change.