On Jan. 11, at the first weekly Dartmouth Student Government meeting of the winter term, senators discussed the ongoing shuttle service to West Lebanon, an upcoming American Civil Liberties Union seminar regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an emergency preparedness training event for students.
Student body president Sabik Jawad ’26 proposed expanding the DSG free shuttle service to West Lebanon by including a stop at the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, which offers urgent care and access to medical specialists. According to Jawad, DSG has discussed with College administrators the possibility of the College contributing some funding to the pilot program.
“We can pilot a program with our shuttle service this term, where we add a stop to Alice Peck Day Hospital, which has urgent care and some specialists, and we can gather data on whether it’s actually being used or not, and to make a permanent program,” Jawad said.
General senator Daniel Sparks ’29 said that “no one’s going to use" the program and pointed out that the fall term’s shuttle service was used by 35 students across two days, which cost DSG around $4,000, according to Sparks.
West House senator Aiden Cole ’28 agreed with Sparks and suggested DSG pay a College-certified student driver, instead of an outside private service, to drive students to West Lebanon in order to cut down on expenses.
Additionally, School House senator Oscar Rempe-Hiam ’29 discussed an upcoming seminar with ACLU of New Hampshire regional campaign manager Taylor Maine. The event will inform students about their rights and resources regarding immigration enforcement and will take place on Jan. 26.
“Given the recent murder in Minneapolis, the shootings in Portland and the encroaching nature of the Trump administration, it is crucial that our student body knows what to do in the event that they encounter Border Patrol agents,” Rempe-Hiam wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth.
The seminar will include “know-your-rights cards and resources,” according to Rempe-Hiam.
According to Cole, DSG is in the process of drafting a “student recovery” and “emergency preparedness” plan for emergency situations.
DSG plans to host a training to prepare students in the event that there is a “hostile intruder on campus,” according to Cole. DSG did not confirm a date for the training during the Sunday meeting.
During the fall term, DSG launched a book bank program to encourage students to donate their used textbooks by offering them a $5 Still North Books and Bar gift card. South House senator Jason Zhu ’28 noted that the turnout for the program “wasn’t ideal” due to it being initiated late into the term. Zhu suggested that this term, DSG provides students with gift cards to purchase their textbooks at Still North using the remaining funds from the book bank program.
“We’re gonna see what catalog of textbooks that Still North has and directly provide students with the gift cards if Still North has those textbooks and we could also order [books] in advance,” Zhu said.
During the closed session of the meeting, DSG confirmed executive representatives for the winter term. General senator Reece Sharp ’28 was appointed communications director, Zhu was appointed chief of staff, School House senator Hanna Bilgin ’28 was appointed project director, East Wheelock senator Sud Paul ’27 was appointed student life chair, West House senator Luca Nacimiento ’29 was appointed deputy communications director, East Wheelock senator Honiely Aviles ’28 was appointed first year coordinator and North Park senator Issa Allison ’29 was appointed deputy finance director.
DSG Senate meetings occur weekly on Sundays at 7 p.m. in Collis 101 and are open to all students.
