On Thursday, Nov. 6, Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) held its weekly Legislative Body (LB) meeting in the Weyerhaeuser Boardroom. LB Speaker Catherine Kane ’26 opened the meeting with a welcome and recitation of the land acknowledgement before bringing up Accessibility and Wellness Liaison Emma Rohrs ’26 to introduce Sara Pournoor, the newly hired director of counseling at the Laurie Hamre Center for Health and Wellness.
Pournoor answered questions from the LB about the experience he brings to the role, what excites him about working with college students and how he plans to work with the campus community. With a speciality in gender and sexual health, he highlights care work and collective healing processes.
Ava Annunziato ’28, sophomore class representative, asked about the goals Pournoor has moving forward.
“There [are a few] main initiatives that I’m focusing on,” Pournoor said. “One is maintaining the counseling services we already offer; another part is building infrastructure to support the continued delivery of quality [care]; the next thing is around updating our electronic health record system and the last thing that I’m trying to invest in is coalition building across campus.”
The next guest was Vice President for Institutional Equity Alina Wong, alongside Minerva Muñoz, dean for institutional equity, and Hannah Adams Ingram, college chaplain and associate dean for institutional equity.
They gave updates on their department, which included discussing the rollout of a program of engaging in conversations of difference before moving to the rewriting of Macalester’s land acknowledgement, coinciding with a greater effort to engage with and highlight Indigenous voices across the Macalester community.
“[We started] a conversation about two years ago now, about our land acknowledgement and wanting to, as a practice, really reflect upon what does this mean for us to make this land acknowledgement?” Wong said. “How do we also make it meaningful and action-oriented, as opposed to just a performative statement that we read at various events?”
In response to a question about the future adaptation of the campus response to the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Wong reiterated that protocols are in place and will be updated as changes unfold on the federal, state and local level.
If students have questions regarding the policies and guidance, they should be directed to Wong.
Pardis Roham ’28, the institutional equity liaison, introduced Associate Provost & Data Officer Bethany Miller and the Student Learning Committee (SLC) to present a college-wide educational outcome revision proposal.
“[Edutuational Outcome is] intended to be a long-term vision for what students will be able to say about their Macalester education, or their learning in Macalester,” Miller said. “This is not something that happens in a vacuum. The Macalester experience, outcomes, learning in courses, learning outside of courses — internships, study away, leadership — all the things that you do at Macalester and [in] your own ecosystem play into what it is that you’re able to take away from your learning experience.”
The revision, an update of language and framing, is informed by feedback from conversations with students, staff and faculty, as well as first-year entrance survey and senior exit survey data. The results were compiled into a single sentence:
“At the end of the Macalester experience, we want the graduates to be able to apply the liberal arts journey to engage ethically with the world.”
The current full statement of student learning can be found on the SLC website as well as a breakdown of the different areas of learning goals and outcomes.
Vice President Philomena Shuffelton-Sobe ’26 made a motion to endorse the revision, which passed with 18 in favor and one opposed.
The meeting moved into updates from liaisons. Rohrs announced a committee for discussions with Public Safety to increase interactions between them and students.
Athletics and Recreation Liaison Ash Granda-Bondurant ’27 brought forward student opinions about extending Leonard Center hours as well as how students can find the times varsity teams will be in the weight room, on the sports performance Instagram.
Jj Cuneo ’28, dining and sustainability liaison, shared a short biography of Bon Appétit Fellow Grace Mennerick and the work she is doing at Macalester.
And Galjer Yangwaue ’27, residential life & dining liaison, announced the release of the residential life experience survey earlier that day and encouraged students to fill it out.
Committee updates included an upcoming event by the Academic Affairs Committee called “Pied by Professors,” Communications & Engagement Committee’s plans for legislation week, Student Organizations Committee’s work on mental health in student work and the move to Slate from Presence and Financial Affairs Committee’s special budget requests of the week.
Samantha Schafer ’26 announced a food drive by MCSG to help cover community members affected by federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program before Kane adjourned the meeting with no additional announcements.
