Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) met on Tuesday Oct. 10 in the Weyerhaeuser Boardroom to discuss a packed agenda.

Mindy Deardurff of the Career Development Center (CDC) explained a remodeling of the CDC’s approach. Specifically, she talked about changing the model to be more accessible and relevant to students today. This would include divisional support, expanding alumni connections and Mac Explore – a program specifically targeted towards first years and sophomores.

Some MCSG members raised questions about career statistics and options for Macalester students after graduation, as well as concerns about expanding career recruitment outside the Twin Cities.

Stacy Gerondelis ‘19 and Nita Senesathith ‘21, members of the Lecture Coordinations Board (LCB), gave a presentation and asked about ideas for future speakers and topics to address on campus.

This semester, the LCB scheduled legendary civil rights activist and scholar Angela Davis – for a fee that is half of their yearly budget of $50,000.

Davis will speak in Kagin Ballroom on Oct. 19. Only 500 tickets were made available for the event, and members of MCSG proposed holding lecture events in a larger space or providing a livestream option in the future to those unable to procure tickets. Chris Pieper ‘18 stated that MCSG would be willing to allocate a larger budget to LCB if necessary.

Rachel Stromsta ’18 pitched the idea of a monthly MCSG newsletter to be sent to all students via email. The first issue of such a newsletter is scheduled to be sent by the end of October.

The Financial Affairs Committee, led by Pieper and Taneeya Rele ‘19, proposed a $2,600 budget for the Indian Masala dinner. The motion passed with no opposition.

Shelby Witherby ‘18 and Andy Han ‘19 then introduced a bill that would subsidize the costs of graduate school exams, like the MCAT or GRE, for students with financial need. This program would require $5,000, which as of now, would be taken from the student activity fee. MCSG President, Suveer Daswani ’18 asked members to spend this coming week gathering feedback about the proposal.

Voting on the omnibus bill will take place next week. Although executive members did review the bylaws, few major changes were made. The possibility of removing the Media Outreach Officer as a work study position was heavily debated, but no conclusion was reached.

Daswani ended the meeting by reminding members that elections for new senior class representatives are upcoming.

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