Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) was visited by Executive Director of Residential Life Kyle Flowers last Thursday, Feb. 27, who kickstarted a meeting that covered updates from Residential Life and representatives on MCSG’s various campus committees.
Flowers, who was joined by Beekah Madia Russell, associate director of Residential Life for student and community support, gave a general update to the Legislative Body (LB) before answering a list of specific questions they prepared for the meeting.
Flowers told the LB that applications to Macalester’s Living Learning Communities (LLC), previously known as specialty housing, had been due Monday, Feb. 17, and that Residential Life had received over 120 applications to these communities, which include Macalester’s Language Houses, the Veggie Co-op, the Cultural House (C-House), the Substance Free Affirming Communities and Macalester’s new study away community called “the Layover.”
Flowers then reminded the LB that housing selection would open on March 25 and 27, and that one of his “big asks” for MCSG is to remind juniors and seniors that there is space for them to live on campus, if they so choose.
Flowers then transitioned to answering his first question from the LB: “How have conversations regarding future student agency over the C-House continued in your department?”
“Residential Life’s role with [the C-House] is finding ways to help make sure that that program continues to be on campus, and where’s the best space for that program,” Flowers said. “We’re excited to continue working with our students who live in the halls and the [C-House] Resident Assistants (RAs) about how to continue to support that program moving forward.”
The next question for Flowers was regarding compensation for RAs, how the compensation has changed and how these changes are expected to continue.
“One of my big goals, is to continue to talk about what … meal plans for RAs [will] look like in the future, whether that’s a meal plan added to an RA’s account, a certain amount of money that’s allocated towards compensation for an RA or giving an RA the option for a commuter meal plan,” Flowers said. “I don’t plan to not continue these conversations moving forward, I want to keep looking at evidence for how we can do this.”
According to Flowers’ math, RAs currently make $19.57 an hour (incorporating their stipend) and if further benefits were to be approved for RAs regarding meal plans, there would likely be a work component built in to the way they spend meal times, which would perhaps include eating with their residents.
Flowers then responded to a question about the success of winter housing, to which he outlined that more than 300 students had stayed on campus in Macalester’s winter housing program this year. Russell added that over winter break, the Scots Care Case Management Team received a total of four care referrals, a process designed to connect students with resources, support and guidance during distress.
After the winter housing update, MCSG President Joel Sadofsky ’25 asked about the effects of changing finances and enrollment conditions on the practices and pressures of residential life.
“The departments that we work in [account for] about 18% of the college’s total revenue throughout the year. So it is important,” Flowers said. “We talk a lot about what it means for students to live on campus, what it means for the experiences that they get, and just how budget numbers impact us every year.”
The final question for Flowers came from Tristan Niedzielski ’25, Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) chair, regarding the Substance Free Affirming Community.
“I know there’s a lot of work going on around folks who are in recovery, what does that support look like for folks who are not looking to recover with an abstinence-only recovery model?” Niedzielski said. “Is there support for those students that don’t fit in this community that is specifically an abstinence model?”
“Yes, there is,” Flowers said. “One of the first ways I would suggest a student to see what that looks like is to start talking to a RA or [Residence] Hall Director. We very much want students to have a space where they feel safe and welcome. We can have those conversations with students without having it be in that living learning community.”
The meeting then continued to hear committee updates, the first of which came from Mena Feleke ’25, Communications & Engagement Committee (CEC) chair, representing the Advisory Group for Sexual Respect (AGSR).
Feleke told the LB that the AGSR was a result of a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to address issues related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking at Macalester. The renewal of the grant has faced new uncertainty due to the Trump Administration.
The ASGR spans faculty, staff and community partners, and works to make emergency spaces available to students living both on or off campus and implement trauma-informed practices across campus.
Feleke announced that the committee will begin a partnership with Macalester and University of St. Thomas at the start of next year to provide comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence on both campuses. Additionally, Feleke announced that Macalester is considering changing its contract with its current service provider for the sexual violence prevention and alcohol and substances modules that are required for students.
Vice President Ryan Connor ’25 then updated the LB on the Macalester Dining Advisory Committee (MDAC).
“Overall, MDAC is a monthly meeting and a great space to talk about dining, dining related issues and Cafe Mac workers, or things like that,” Connor said.
The MDAC update was followed up by Niedzielski and Senior Class Representative Cooper Glick ’25 on behalf of the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) committee. Niedzielski and Glick informed the LB that AOD has continued working through a harm-reduction lens to bring services to students, including the harm reduction cabinet in the library, adding that the bulk of their other work is through analyzing data from the National College Health Assessment they receive every three years.
The AOD update concluded the committee updates, allowing the LB to move on to a Community Chest Fund Request by Arwa Salih ’26 who asked the LB for $2,300 to put on a community Iftar event.
Iftar, the fast-breaking evening meal held throughout the muslim holy month of Ramadan, is usually celebrated at Macalester through the Muslim Student Association (MSA). However, according to Salih, MSA’s budget got cut last year, and Salih hopes to see more engagement and attendance from the greater Macalester community.
“We know [the funding request] is a lot but we promise it’ll be worth it. We wanted to host this to educate the broader Macalester community about the traditions of Ramadan,” said Salih. “A lot of people feel bad that we have to fast and have all these questions, and [the event] addresses these questions and helps us teach people.”
The request was approved at an amount of $2,100 with 25 votes in favor and one vote abstaining.
The LB then received cabinet updates.
Galjer Yangwaue ’27, dining and residential life liaison, alerted the LB of efforts to place emergency response forms behind doors in rooms around campus. Yangwaue added an update that a physical feedback board in Cafe Mac is currently being utilized for small issues across the dining space, and that she is currently having conversations with management at Cafe Mac about incorporating chicken tenders and quesadillas on meal swipes during dinner hours.
First-year Class Representative Aisha Ibrahim ’28, representing the Financial Affairs Committee (FAC), then began the committee updates.
“We approved six requests, the Ice Skating Club, two Outing Club, two MacBike and one for the Macalester Street Journal that asked for $1,940 to provide food for their upcoming conference,” Ibrahim said. “We declined the Neurobiology Club request of $2,134 for four people to attend a conference in Boston because some of their numbers from their requests were off and unexplained. We asked them to resubmit and the numbers were updated, which they’ve done, so we’ll talk more in our meeting next week.”
Then, First-year Class Representative Lina Solh ’28, representing the AAC, gave her update.
“This week we discussed study away and setting up a meeting in March with Shanti [Freitas], the director of study away, to talk about a program to cover the cost of study away,” said Solh.
“We had an update from Ebony [Aya] at the [Jan Serie Center for Scholarship and Teaching] and we’re waiting to hear back.”
