Allegheny Student Government discussed upcoming plans and approved a new senator during its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

The meeting began with Men of Color Advancement Association member Francisco Guzman, ’19, requesting ASG approve the group’s constitution.

Guzman said he started MOCAA with four of his closest friends during his first-year at Allegheny. The MOCAA house started off as a Special Interest House, according to Guzman.

“Its main goal was to retain men of color on Allegheny’s campus through community engagement [and] mentoring,” Guzman said. “Next year, we’re all going to be seniors, and we really want MOCAA to stay on campus, so we decided to propose a constitution and try to become a recognized organization.”

The constitution for MOCAA officially passed in a vote held by ASG senators. ASG will hold one more vote to confirm the constitution next week, but representatives from MOCAA are not required to be in attendance.

Along with MOCAA’s constitution passing, Monessha Jayabalan was voted into the Class of 2019 Senate.

With the Class of 2019 Senator approved, ASG cabinet members explained upcoming events, both from other groups on campus and from Allegheny’s administration.

Chief of Staff Camila Gomez, ’19, talked about the tabling event held in the Henderson Campus Center lobby on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The event, sponsored by Why Not Us, had students sign pledges to remain active in ending sexual violence and assault. Pledges were then pinned to a divider standing behind the table.

“The Why Not Us tabling event today went very, very well,” Gomez said. “We had the entire room divider covered in signatures by the end.”

The next Why Not Us event will be held next week and will be called Survivor Love Letters, according to Gomez.

Along with Gomez’s report, Co-Director of Student Affairs Will Gladden, ’18, explained a few projects he hoped to enact in the near future.

“We went over the accessibility on campus, and, specifically, the restrooms on campus,” Gladden said. “We tried to recognize a few small initiatives we could maybe get done under the current budget.”

Following the discussion of accessibility, Gladden said he and Co-Director of Student Affairs Travis Court, ’18, hoped to start a new project with the Student Alliance for Prison Reform later in the week to create an informational campaign.

“[It will] educate students on their rights, especially for walking back from the bar,” Gladden said.

Both ASG Vice President Valeria Hurst, ’18, and Director of Communications and Press Elyse Cinquino, ’20, talked about their respective plans to bring more student interest and attention to ASG.

Cinquino will be making posters announcing ASG General Assembly meetings.

“There will be one for the second floor, and one for the campus center lobby,” Cinquino said. “They will say ‘Come on in’ and ‘Our meetings are at seven.’”

While Cinquino hopes to bring more awareness to the weekly meeting in the campus center, Hurst announced a plan to hold ASG’s public meeting in Grounds for Change.

“We will hold an open tab,” Hurst said. “That’s not set yet. I just reached out to GFC to finalize dates, but I think that would be a good space for us.”

Along with the open meeting, possibly slated for GFC, ASG is planning an event called Cookie for Your Thought. The event will be held Monday, Feb. 19, in the Pelletier Library, according to Class of 2020 President Jason Ferrante.

“It is an event where people can come to the library, and all we ask is [constituents] give us an idea on how we can improve campus, ASG or anything in general, and [they] get a free cookie,” Ferrante said.

During class reports, Class of 2021 President David Roach said the first-year student survey was almost complete. The student survey will be sent out to first-year students so they can rate their satisfaction with the school. Following the meeting, the first-year senators talked about their first months with ASG.

“I think it’s actually been going really well,” Roach said. “We’ve been able to accomplish a good amount, especially with what we’ve set our minds to. We have some very ambitious goals for this semester that we’re in right now, but I think we’re getting them done with adequate time.”

Roach added the Class of 2021 has good contacts in the Allegheny Gateway, since Class of 2021 Senator Trevor Mahan has reached out to work with them.

“I think Class of 2021 is the best class on campus,” Mahan said. “We can’t do this job without our constituents, and I know a lot of what I say and do here is influenced by a lot of the freshmen I interact with every day.”

Class of 2021 Senator Ben Blackburn echoed Mahan’s comment concerning constituents.

“I just think it’s really nice to be representing such a large club on campus,” Blackburn said. “People around campus know I’m on ASG and will come to me and ask if something is going on. It’s nice to know and have insight on the inner happenings of the school.”

Class of 2021 Senator Osbaldo Meza agreed with Blackburn’s comment about being involved with the school’s various events and projects.

“I think through student government I have definitely developed stronger bonds with other people,” Meza said. “It’s exciting to see the inside scoop of what’s happening, and actually putting our thoughts into the new projects being developed on campus.

Class of 2021 Vice President Emma Godel urged constituents to visit ASG meetings so senators could hear from them, while Roach praised his fellow ASG senators.

“Overall, it’s been pretty easy because I have great senators to work with,” Roach said.