Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) met in the DeWitt Wallace Library’s Harmon Room on Thursday, Oct. 23 to hear from Provost Lisa Anderson-Levy and discuss raising the student activity fee.
Legislative Body (LB) Speaker Catherine Kane ’26 opened the meeting with a land acknowledgement before inviting class representative Xavier Honer ’28 to speak as the Macalester Undergraduate Workers Union (MUWU) student liaison on the beginning of the bargaining process for the student union. At the time of the meeting, Honer said, MUWU was “nearing the end of the selection process for the bargaining committee,” with the certification vote ongoing.
This recently certified committee “will be representing the union and the student worker body in negotiations with administration over a contract,” according to Honer. Honer then expressed a desire for future collaboration between MUWU and MCSG.
“MCSG is the representative of students as students, and MUWU is representing students as workers,” Honer said. “[Both are] in it for the same reason—[to] represent students and make sure students have the best life here as possible.”
Honer closed with a statement about the roles of MUWU and Macalester’s administration.
“MUWU has the right to be in any conversations about student employment, any proposed changes about student employment and has the right to negotiate with the administration,” Honer said.
“[Administration] should be upholding their legal obligation to include the certified representatives of student workers in conversations, but we as students can also uphold our own interests in that regard,” Honer said.
Kane then introduced Anderson-Levy. Anderson-Levy briefly introduced herself before opening the room for questions. Attendees asked about the tenure process, the status of visiting professors and upcoming curriculum changes. In response to questions on what guides her decision making around student affairs and curriculum, Anderson-Levy repeatedly stressed that she rarely makes decisions alone, particularly when those decisions are what she calls “mission critical.”
“What guides my decision making is hearing from my team and paying attention to how we can best make decisions that feel right,” Anderson Levy said.
When an attendee asked how Anderson-Levy balances Macalester’s liberal arts core while still supporting pre-professional tracks, she clarified that she views “liberal arts as a way of learning.”
“Lots of folks confuse humanities with liberal arts,” Anderson-Levy said. “A liberal arts education is a way of providing an education and isn’t just tied to particular classes, and so doing pre-professional stuff can be part of a liberal arts education.”
Communications and Engagement (CEC) Chair Sammi Shelton ’29 asked how the provost envisioned future collaboration between MCSG and Anderson-Levy’s office.
“One of the things I noticed when I arrived at Macalester is that when folks get mad, they don’t reach out to the person they’re mad about—they have a protest,” Anderson-Levy said. “What I would like to see is when folks are upset about something, reach out before the protest.”
Anderson-Levy clarified that she does believe students should engage in protesting as a means of making their voices heard.
“If there’s something that you want to fix that’s fixable here, I’m probably one of the people who can start that, or if I’m not the one, I can tell you who to talk to,” Anderson-Levy said. “So the answer to your question is: email me [or] call my office if things are on fire for you.”
Finally, in response to concerns about external threats towards Macalester’s curriculum, particularly its emphasis on internationalism, Anderson-Levy told attendees: “President Rivera has said this in many different spaces — we’re not changing who we are, nor do we want to be the place where we try to tell people what to be.”
Financial Affairs Committee (FAC) Chair David Christenfeld ’27 then took to the podium to present on bills to increase the student activity fee and switch to a semesterly budgeting system, both of which will be voted on during the Oct. 30 LB meeting. Christenfeld provided a justification for the bill based on the extent to which student activity fee increases have lagged behind inflation, while demands for student org funding have steadily increased.
“With the money that we’ve had, if we were allocating all the money that people wanted, we would be $124,000 in the null, which is significantly more than even four years ago by the enormous percentage,” Christenfeld said. “While at the same time, we’re allocating more money than we have than ever before.”
Christenfeld proposed a $100 increase in the fee, based on the fact that “we’re $100 below where inflation has gone up since we last increased it.”
Christenfeld summarized that his hopes for the semesterly budget system work in tandem with the increasing student activity fee.
“By collecting halfway through, we can make sure we’re providing funding for anybody who wants to only do in the spring, or has requests in the spring,” Christenfeld said. “So I think that money will be pretty equitably balanced for both semesters because we’re taking in more, but then we have to roll over from one to another.”
Student Organizations Committee (SOC) Chair Liv Peterson ’27 then introduced TV and Film at Mac’s application for charter.
“[You would] be surprised that we don’t already have an existing org that is focusing on [watching TV and films], but we don’t,” Peterson said. “So SOC determined that this is a space that needs to be filled and that it’s permissible to allow this org to pass.”
Following questions clarifying the clubs’ focus in light of its previous branding as specifically centered on Twin Peaks, the charter was put to a vote and passed with 18 in favor and two opposed on grounds of the organization’s name change from “Tweakers at Mac” to “TV and Film at Mac.”
Following the vote, committees and Cabinet members provided updates. Athletics and Recreation liaison Ash Granda-Bondurant ’27 highlighted that club sports will be receiving a reserved gear space this winter and reminded attendees that Green Athletes at Mac is hoping to find at least one representative from every team, including intramural, club and varsity.
Dining and Sustainability liaison Jj Cueno ’28 provided an update on Macalester’s efforts to create a new climate action and resiliency plan. This includes a draft focusing on fuel transition, energy efficiency, expanded climate and sustainability education and waste reduction.
Institutional Equity liaison Pardis Roham ’28 highlighted an upcoming student organizer conference co-sponsored by institutional equity and the Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice.
