This week’s MCSG meeting opened with the announcement that first year representative Shosuke Noma ’23 is resigning.

Noma cited a busy schedule and his need to take time for himself as reasons for his decision.

With that announcement made, the Legislative Body (LB) heard updates from Executive Board members and issue officers.

First, Diversity and Inclusion Officer Robert Green ’23 announced that Macalester had recently moved up nine points in the national college diversity rankings maintained by collegefactual.com.

The rankings are based on the ethnic, geographic and gender makeup of colleges’ and universities’ student bodies, as well as the ages of their students. Macalester is now ranked 176th out of 2,179 colleges and universities surveyed.

“I just want to say thank you to all of MCSG and also the administration,” Green said. “And especially thank you to [Associate Dean of Students] Andrew [Wells] for putting in an incredible amount of work to get us this far.”

MCSG Vice President and Student Service and Relations Committee [SSRC] Chair Fatiya Kedir ’21 informed the body about the SSRC’s continued work on Open Pantry. The SSRC is currently working on ways to improve the nutritional quality of its food.

The body then addressed an additional allocation request by Outing Club, which requested $2,177.68 for Wilderness First Aid training to supplement their yearly budget.

The costs for the training exceeded their initial estimates because they were unable to find sufficient non-student community members to take the class, whose fees normally subsidize students’ fees. The request was approved by a vote of 22 – 0. Three LB members abstained.

The LB then discussed expectations and goals for their upcoming retreat. Financial Affairs Committee Chair Ayushi Modi ’21 said her committee’s primary goal was to prepare recommendations for revisions to the financial code.

MCSG President Blair Cha ’20, on the other hand, said she hopes to spend time in the coming months ensuring that all LB members have a full understanding of how MCSG operates. She also emphasized the importance of mental health and self-care as members begin the new semester.

“I would really love it if you can take care of yourselves this year,” Cha said. “In order to support others we need to build our capacity within ourselves first. And I think self-care is the way to go.”

Kedir agreed and asked the LB for suggestions on how to build community within the LB.

“I mean, we don’t want to do like 10 icebreakers,” Kedir said. “But we definitely want to make sure everyone knows each other outside of just the committee they’re in.”

The meeting concluded with a review of its plan for elections. In February, elections will be held for Executive Board positions as well as special elections for representatives to represent the first-year and sophomore class — positions have been left open by resignations. In March, elections will be held for all class representatives and the President’s Cabinet positions.

The filing period for February elections will begin on Monday, Feb. 3.