The Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) meeting on April 13 featured a discussion about summer housing options for international students on campus and a range of committee updates.
The meeting commenced with an update from two representatives of the campus Strategic Planning and Analysis Committee (SPA). Cristian Cano ’26 and Emma Runchey Smalley ’26 told Legislative Body (LB) members about the work of SPA, highlighting two of their biggest projects: a student retention report and an FAQ report regarding the general finances of Macalester.
Student retention describes the process of keeping students enrolled in a college or university, often focusing on first- and second-year students.
“A big part of a lot of college rankings is student retention, particularly from first year to second year,” Runchey Smalley explained. “And so this is something that’s of concern to the college more generally and also specifically for why students are leaving, [and] what is making them leave.”
Student retention comprises approximately 5% of the U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings metric. According to Runchey Smalley, the Macalester report identified at least seven important factors that are preventing retention, about which Macalester will publish in the following weeks.
The other large project, Macalester’s financial FAQ, is designed to be an approachable document that outlines key information about Macalester’s finances, including the college’s general budget, staff salaries and expenses of different departments on campus.
The LB then took around twenty minutes to work on writing transition documents, which outline key duties and responsibilities of MCSG roles for incoming members.
Health and Accessibility Liaison Emma Rohrs ’26 took the stage following the work time and updated the LB about a new Minnesota state law regarding sexual misconduct.
The Campus Sexual Misconduct Policy law was amended in June 2025 to include additional grievance procedures in cases of sexual misconduct. A campus committee was formed in response to the amendments to ensure the college is in compliance with the state law.
Rohrs clarified that this law is different from Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sexual harassment and violence. The new committee is responsible for updating campus policy to be in compliance with the Minnesota statute, which has different criteria for defining sexual misconduct than those of Title IX. Title IX Coordinator Laura Creech recently sent out a survey to the campus community asking for input on additional support measures that should be included in the draft policy updates.
The committee held two open sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to hear additional feedback.
Next on the agenda, Sophomore Class Representative Xavier Honer ’28 gave the LB a brief update regarding the Macalester Undergraduate Workers’ UnionUnited Auto Workers (MUWU-UAW). Honer expressed concern about the status of information on student workers, which is gathered in a release form signed at the beginning of their position.
“If you sign that, then the college tells us that you’re working here,” Honer explained. “So [Macalester is] supposed to update that every pay period, and they keep not updating it. And they keep giving us old information. And they say that they’re trying to fix it, but it’s been a problem for a while now. So we don’t know how many people are working where.”
Honer also described efforts made by the union in their last bargaining session with Macalester’s administration to recognise Off-Campus Student Employees, resident assistants and Bonner Scholars as part of the union. The Macalester administration has declined these requests, citing the unique structure of these positions.
Despite disagreements, Honer highlighted two tentative agreements made with the college concerning labor management and non-discrimination policies.
A member of the student government, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing retaliation from the U.S. administration, subsequently discussed the state of funding options for summer housing with the LB.
“We’re having a situation where it’s near summer, and [the] administration has said that they’re going to give funding and help to international students over summer,” the member said. “But then that process seems to be extremely in the mud.”
The day after these questions were raised in the LB meeting, the dean of students’ office announced to students via email the availability of a Summer Housing Grant for “international students and immigrationimpacted students.” The grant is designed to cover the full cost of on-campus summer housing and a meal plan.
“We want to make sure you are aware of this resource, especially given the current landscape and the concerns many of our international and immigration-impacted students are navigating,” staff of the office wrote in the email. “Staying on campus this summer can provide stability, community and access to campus resources — and we don’t want finances to be a barrier.”
“When questions arose, they were clarified quickly and collaboratively within hours of us bringing it up at LB,” the student government member wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly reacting to the subsequent student announcement. “Overall, I am actually pleased [with] how our concerns were taken seriously and resolved immediately, even though initially there were some headscratching moments.”
The member, as well as International Student Liaison and Chief of Staff Lyra Salihu ’27, also expressed concerns with the state of an “international student fund,” which the anonymous member had proposed earlier this semester to certain members of the administration. The fund would provide stipends for international students completing summer internships in the U.S., and is proposed to be financed with money re-allocated from the pool of money donated specifically to support international students.
“Right now, a significant portion of [the money] is being used for summer housing, which is great and necessary,” the anonymous member wrote. “But ‘support international students’ is a broad enough category that internship funding could also fall under it. So rather than asking for entirely new money, I’m proposing we think creatively about how that existing pool of resources could address another real need.”
Silihu expressed dissatisfaction with the Macalester administration’s reception of the fund’s financing.
“I’ve been told that there’s pretty big leniency for this funding to be reallocated. And I also have been told that it wouldn’t be hard to be reallocated,” Silihu said. “And now considering the fact that we’re two weeks [away] from the last day of classes, and they’re still thinking about it, working on it and then still not bringing transparency.
“I think it’s just more than frustrating, to be honest. I think it’s just nearly ironic.”
According to the anonymous member, international students often have a harder time securing internships and employment in the U.S., given the current federal administration’s anti-immigration policies and actions.
“Lots of businesses are reluctant to hire [international students] because they worry it might be an investment that does not materialize since it’s harder to stay in the country now, be sponsored for visas, etc.” the member wrote. Following this discussion, the meeting was adjourned.
