On May 25, the Dartmouth Student Government Senate met for its eighth weekly meeting of the spring term. Led by student body president Chukwuka Odigbo ’25, the Senate voted down an amendment to its constitution limiting eligibility to serve on its executive board to only those who have served as senators or representatives. It also allocated $5,000 of its budget for the expansion of outdoor seating and wellness spaces on campus.
Executive Board Amendment
The amendment to change eligibility requirements for DSG’s executive board, which required a two-thirds majority, failed 7 - 5 - 3.
Currently, any undergraduate student appointed by the student body president and vice president can become a member of DSG’s executive board following a simple majority vote of approval by the Senate. The executive board includes the chief of staff, finance director, communications director, project director, town affairs liaison and their deputies.
North Park senator Jude Poirier ’28 said the eligibility requirement was a “minor vetting process” to ensure candidates for DSG office have enough “experience” to carry out their duties.
“The work [DSG] does is administrative and has to do with experience communicating with administrators and being familiar with how Dartmouth as an institution functions,” Poirier said. “If you don’t have that experience, it’s going to really tamper with the ability of DSG to do its job.”
Appointment as a DSG representative is open to any undergraduate who attends three DSG meetings in one academic term, following confirmation by the Senate. Representatives cannot vote on Senate motions.
General senator and student body president-elect Sabik Jawad ’26 said the amendment could pose a “problem” for bringing “outside expertise” onto DSG’s executive board.
Nicolás Macri ’24, for example, was recruited to serve as town affairs liaison for the 2022-23 school year due to his subject area expertise, according to Jawad. He went on to write DSG’s report in support of the North End housing project.
Poirier and West House senator Samay Sahu ’27 — who wrote the eligibility amendment together — voted against and abstained from a student emergency fund proposed by Jawad on April 13. After their votes, posters around campus called for their removal from office.
Before the vote during the May 25 meeting, general senator Ikenna Nwafor ’27 said the DSG Senate is “smart enough” to judge the fitness of candidates for office.
“This extra barrier is unnecessary,” Nwafor said. “We already have discussions about it.”
Outdoor Seating
The Senate’s vote to allocate $5,000 for outdoor seating on campus passed via unanimous consent. The funding was an expansion of an $8,951 pilot program conducted by DSG last summer.
DSG Senate meetings occur weekly on Sundays at 7 p.m. in Collis 101 and are open to all students.
Jackson Hyde '28 is an intended philosophy major from Los Angeles, California. His interests include photography, meditation, and board game design.
