On Sept. 27, the Dartmouth Student Government Senate met for its first weekly meeting of the fall term. Led by student body president Ikenna Nwafor ’27, the Senate discussed The Dartmouth’s investigation of Provost Santiago Schnell’s use of artificial intelligence in recent published works and College President Sian Leah Beilock’s Sept. 25 announcement of an independent advisory committee into that AI use. The Senate also heard updates on vending machine policies, as well as a proposal for a “First-Year Guide” for incoming students.
At the meeting, general senator Trace Ribble ’29 called Schnell’s use of AI in academic publications “anti-academic.”
“The provost should be held to the same standards, if not higher, than students are,” Ribble said.
Chief of staff Oscar Rempe-Hiem ’29 said students should have “input” on the committee’s review.
“Students should have a say, given how much [Schnell’s] actions dictate our space and place at the school,” Rempe-Hiem said.
Rempe-Hiam added that faculty he has spoken with are “really upset” about AI’s prominence at the College, both in Schnell’s AI use and in Dartmouth’s Dec. 3, 2025 partnership with Anthropic. The partnership was criticized at the time by some faculty members, including claimants in a class action lawsuit against Anthropic for allegedly infringing their copyrights and unethically downloading their publications to train its large-language model Claude.
“They were upset with the Anthropic partnership we made a while back that happened without a lot of their consent,” Rempe-Hiem said. “They’re also upset that now it’s publicized that he [Schnell] was doing all this and their work was getting plagiarized.”
A College spokesperson declined to comment on Rempe-Hiam’s concerns.
The Senate discussed issuing a statement about Schnell, but did not reach a final decision. In an interview with The Dartmouth after the meeting, Nwafor said that the Senate is “closely following the matter.”
“We are in touch with several stakeholders and administrators, and also getting feedback from students,” Nwafor said. “The public will know when we have a statement.”
Nwafor added that the Senate will “probably wait for the results of the committee” before making a statement.
“I’m not going to jump to conclusions before the result of the committee set up by President Beilock,” Nwafor said.
The Senate also heard updates on vending machine policies, including Dartmouth Dining’s new security measures in Fresh Zones and a DSG pilot program for vending machines that sell hot food. The program started at Goldstein Hall earlier this term.
According to North Park senator and Dining, Basic Needs and Accessibility committee chair Issa Allison ’29, these new security measures include four security cameras alongside new vending machines in Fresh Zones to prevent students from unplugging machines or covering cameras.
“Even if you think you’re … gaming the system trying to steal stuff from the Fresh Zone, they are catching you,” Allison said. “If you check your student account this term, you are getting charged for the items sold.”
Dartmouth Dining associate director Heather Lascelle wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that Fresh Zone locations that students responsible for theft “will be charged a $65 reset fee along with the cost of the product(s) that were not paid for.”
“If the machine is damaged or the product needs to be discarded due to spoilage, the individual will be responsible for the damage, product lost and the $65 reset fee,” Lascelle wrote.
South House senator Isla Walker ’29 gave updates on the Health, Wellness and Safety committee’s pilot program for free and sustainable laundry detergent sheets, which officially launched in Fayerweather Hall this week. Walker proposed a potential Senate vote on where to place an available second dispense. The Senate did not vote on Walker’s proposal.
Student body vice president Maggie de la Fuente ’27 reported on DSG’s book bank program on behalf of program lead and Academic Affairs and Faculty Relations committee chair and South House senator Jason Zhu ’28, who was absent.
De la Fuente said 191 eligible students have purchased 330 books this term, and DSG fulfilled all orders. This term’s purchases cost $7,000. The program was allocated $2,000 for last fall’s purchases.
“Students should be getting their books this upcoming week,” de la Fuente said. “We are also setting up meetings with administration to hopefully talk about future funding for this program that would be institutionalized.”
Nwafor also proposed making a “first-year guide” for new students that would provide recommendations for dining, study and outdoorsing spots around Hanover, as well as a glossary of Dartmouth terms. De la Fuente said the idea could also help parents, pointing to questions some parents had during Family Weekend.
“A lot of parents were requesting information on what all the acronyms mean,” de la Fuente said. “I think this could be helpful for new families too, and we could share it with them.”
The Senate did not vote on the proposal.
DSG will hold office hours on Wednesday in Reiss Hall from 2 to 3 p.m. for students who want to learn more about running for Senate. Candidates can declare their candidacy until Oct. 2, and the campaigning period will last from Tuesday, Oct. 6 until the voting period, which will open on Monday, Oct. 12 at 5:00 p.m., closes on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 5:00 p.m., according to an email to campus from the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee.
DSG Senate meetings occur weekly on Sundays at 4 p.m. in Collis 101 and are open to all students.
Oscar Rempe-Hiam ’29 is an opinion columnist for The Dartmouth. He was not involved in writing or editing this article.
