This week’s MCSG meeting, the first of the year, was primarily dedicated to a discussion about the Legislative Body’s (LB) goals — increased student interaction and improved transparency.

After a land acknowledgment and group introductions, the committee chairs described their plans for the semester.

“Overall, I would like to expand on what we’ve done,” Vice President and Student Services and Relations Committee Chair Fatiya Kedir ’21 said. “Also talking to different student services, different student environments… I tried to talk to 50 people I’d never met before this week, which was a great experience.”

Student Organization Committee (SOC) Chair Camden Moser ’20 hopes to make the SOC a more accessible resource for organizations. 

Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) Chair Natalie Luo ’20 also hopes to expand the AAC’s role on campus. While the AAC traditionally works to make textbooks more accessible for students, coordinates the Alumni Fair and facilitates annual educational awards, Luo hopes the committee will also work to undertake more mental health initiatives in the coming year.

After committee introductions, MCSG President Blair Cha ’19 opened up the floor for representatives to share thoughts and reflections regarding the past year, as well as hopes for the coming semesters. 

Junior class representative Em Hayward ’21 was elected to MCSG in April. She hopes to see more transparency between MCSG and the student body. Based on her own experience, she believes that most students are unaware of what MCSG does.

“It’d be great to see a more accessible way of seeing what’s going on at these meetings,” Hayward said.

Cha believed this could be achieved, in part, by holding MCSG meetings in more open spaces. Already, the group plans to hold seven meetings in Harmon Room of the Dewitt Wallace Library. 

“Hopefully, people will see us there and see that we’re actually meeting every Tuesday night,” Cha said.

She suggested that representatives spend the first 20 minutes of each library meeting interacting with students, getting ideas about what they want to see from MCSG. 

Financial Affairs Committee (FAC) member Karinna Gerhardt ’20 agreed that the library meetings are helpful, but pointed to possible shortcomings. 

“I really like the library space because it’s so accessible, people can see us meeting,” Gerhadt said. “But I do remember there wasn’t much space wise or chair wise for other people to sit. I wonder if we [could] create more observer space.”

To further the accessibility of MCSG, Gerhardt believes MCSG should increase their social media presence. 

“I think it’d be really cool to utilize social media more. It’d be really easy to do an Instagram or Facebook post summary of each meeting. It could make students feel more connected,” Gerhardt said.

Olivia Nyman ’22 agreed that social media posts could be informative.

“Obviously, we want people to know what we have been doing, but it’s also important for people to know what is currently in the process of happening,” Nyman said. “If we want people to get involved, then we have to include them in the process rather than having it be an afterthought.”

According to Cha, discussion about the past and future of MCSG will continue in the coming weeks and at the group’s retreat in late September.