The Senate updated plans regarding this year’s Midnight Buffet, which will be altered to conform to COVID-19 regulations. The Union Senate did not charter, recognize or de-charter any clubs at its March 7 or 14 meetings. 

Sen. Ashna Kelkar ’24 announced at the March 7 meeting that the St. Patrick’s Day event which had been planned for March 15 was canceled. Sodexo would have needed to supply the cookies the Student Union wanted to distribute, and there was not enough time before the date to order them. According to Kelkar, “It was a planning issue on both of [Sodexo and the Union’s] parts.”

Sen. Courtney Thrun ’22, who is in charge of planning the spring 2021 Midnight Buffet, gave a brief update on the Senate’s plan for the event. This semester, it will be called the “Midday Getaway,” and will be a tropically-themed event at which the Student Union will give away a variety of items, including bucket hats.

At the meeting on March 14, Thrun proposed a Senate Money Resolution to pay for the Midday Getaway. If the SMR is approved, the total cost for the event would be just over $3,500, less than half of the $8,000 usually budgeted towards the buffet. More than two-thirds of the money from the SMR would be used to purchase the bucket hats.

Senate Sustainability Committee Senators Jesse Zucker ’21 and Selah Bickel ’24 told the Senate that the committee would be launching a compost bin trial for students living in the Foster Mods.

Sen. Ben Topol ’24 of the Facilities, Housing and Transportation Committee also proposed an SMR at the March 14 meeting. Topol proposed buying two 72-inch picnic tables for Massell Quad, which Topol said would encourage more students to sit outside.

“I think a picnic table would be great in Massell Quad,” said Joshua Feld ’22, a Community Advisor in Massell. “All the residents would have [opportunities for] community building.” Sen. James Feng ’22 said he plans to buy picnic tables for Ziv and Ridgewood Quads as well.

At the end of the meeting, Sen. Joseph Coles ’22 proposed a bylaw amendment that would require that all projects funded through the Student Union have the Union’s name or logo somewhere on them.

The Senate will vote on the two SMRs and the bylaw amendment next week, which will be the last meeting before the Senate goes on a two-week recess.