On Thursday, Oct. 2, the Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) held its Legislative Body (LB) meeting in the Weyerhaeuser Board Room.
MCSG Vice President Philomena Shuffelton-Sobe ’26 opened the meeting with a land acknowledgment before introducing Sustainability Director Megan Butler for an update on the college’s environmental efforts.
Butler detailed the college’s move away from specific dates to meet goals for “zero waste,” defined as 90 percent or more waste being diverted elsewhere than an incinerator or landfill, and towards more gradual, yearly waste reduction initiatives.
“We’re kind of at the edge of what folks are doing in terms of zero waste,” Butler said. “That’s the good news…[but] we’re not doing very well compared to ourselves and we’re slipping a little bit. Our best diversion rates that Macalester has ever had were about 80 percent diversion rates [in 2019], now we’re at 73 percent. So we’d love to stop that slip.”
Butler acknowledged that there are numerous difficulties in reaching zero waste, but specifically highlighted the challenge of creating a culture of sustainability. The Sustainability Office has directly sought to foster that culture with reusability initiatives and training.
“We’re trying to make sure we can train every person on campus from students, through staff [to] faculty,” Butler said. “The way we recycle in St. Paul is different than how they recycle in St. Louis Park, and the way we recycle in St. Paul today is different than how we recycled five years ago. So having waste training … and making sure that information is available is important.”
Following Butler was Vice President for Student Affairs Kathryn Kay Coquemont, who took questions from the LB surrounding the instability of the student visa process, and how Macalester would work to help students deal with the fear of potential visa revocations.
“There’s a number of things that we’re doing,” Coquemont said. “If you haven’t already had a chance to meet our new Director of Counseling [Sara Pournoor] he’s really great. [Another] is … [thinking about] what it means for people to be able to continue to be caring for their health and wellbeing off of our campus, whether that is in the wider Minnesota community or maybe back at home, which could be another state or another country.”
Representative Silvia Lungu ’28 directly asked Coquemont about how the college has responded to visa concerns and what the support network would look like for international students.
“It’s been at the forefront of our minds,” Coquemont said. “I want to acknowledge that advocacy looks like a lot of different things right now, and one thing we’re going to be really thoughtful of is to be good advocates and communicators about what’s impacting our students … while also not drawing attention to our international students in a way that could harm them.”
“President [Suzanne] Rivera is so great about advocating for different things in op-ed pieces and interviews and podcasts, and so there’s a lot of things like that about how are we continuing to educate folks, whether they’re our peers or people who are just in the community that might not hold the same viewpoints as us, both in direct and indirect ways.”
Coquemont also highlighted the more direct ways the college is making an impact, including fundraising campaigns for international students, legal support, and the on-campus housing offered to international students with concerns about maintaining their visas.
“Think back about your first year here and imagine if your first year wasn’t immediately connected with community or orientation,” Coquemont said. “So our first thing was to get … [international students] to Macalester, and then the second was for when they g o t here … [having] a whole program for them before [domestic student] orientation began.”
The meeting then shifted to updates from Board of Trustees (BoT) Liaison Dámaris Zamora Aguilón ’26, who detailed collegiate fundraising efforts and financial aid for the academic year.
“[Macalester has] had strong fundraising momentum for our fiscal year of 2025 goals,” Zamora Aguilón said. “[Fundraising efforts] surpassed [our] target, although donor funds are declining nationwide. Campaign totals have reached almost halfway towards their goal for the fiscal year of 2026, with a majority of these donors being individuals rather than foundations or corporations.”
Zamora-Aguilón also shared that Macalester enrolled 534 first-years, nine students short of its 545 enrollment target. This leaves the school $1.6 million below its net revenue goal.
Zamora-Aguilón’s speech concluded with a reminder that BoT liaison office hours take place on Tuesdays, on the second floor of the campus center from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
The LB then moved into voting on the Omnibus Bill to amend MCSG’s bylaws for the 2025- 2026 academic year. The bill passed by a vote of in favor and one opposed.
Sophomore Class Representative Xavier Honer ’28 expressed that his opposition to the Omnibus Bill came down to what he perceived as a lack of discussion on changes to the bylaws, which restricted serving on MCSG to those in good standing with the Dean of Students and Title IX offices.
“There was a change to the election code regarding who was eligible to run,” Honer said. “And while I’m not necessarily against that change, I do think that the LB should at least discuss changes that are restricting the democratic access of the school to MCSG.”
Cabinet Liaisons then provided updates.
Athletics and Recreation Liaison Ash Granda-Bondurant ’27 mentioned that he will continue to review Leonard Center hours and club sports with Athletics Director Donnie Brooks and Assistant Director of Athletics Steve Murray.
Accessibility & Wellbeing Liaison Emma Rohrs ’26 detailed information about Laurie Hamre Center for Health and Wellness’s upcoming flu vaccination clinic on Oct. 23 and the center’s switch from an in-house to an outside consulting psychiatrist.
Pardis Roham ’28, institutional equity liaison, covered the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life’s (CRSL) search for a Muslim and interfaith chaplain, noting that CRSL is actively seeking student feedback on the finalist candidates for the position.
Dining and Sustainability Liaison JJ Cuneo ’28 announced the arrival of anti-fatigue mats for Cafe Mac workers and potential plans to open the allergen-friendly station during breakfast hours.
Academic Affairs Committee Chair Samantha Schafer ’26 shared that application details for MCSG’s scholarship supporting students with the graduate school admissions test (GSAT) exams would be posted to the Mac Daily that following Friday, and that talks would be held with relevant faculty to more fully flesh out Macalester’s pre-engineering track.
Student Organizations Committee Chair Liv Peterson ’27 laid out the committee’s plans to merge organizations with largely overlapping purposes and that “Twin Peaks” watch club Tweakers at Mac would require a name change.
Financial Affairs Committee Chair David Christenfeld ’27 rounded out the meeting by announcing that a request by Health Professions Student Coalition for over $4,000 in funding for medical school visits would be sent to the LB in the coming weeks.
