The Allegheny Student Government heard a presentation on the future of the Caflisch Hall site, approved the largest week of spending in six months and appointed two students to college committees at their General Assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
All of these moves came despite around a third of the Senate being absent or substituted in for. Senators Chris Ratliff, ’24, Katie Wagner, ’24, Asaad Bell, ’25, and Aubrey Carion, ’27 were all represented by another student via the proxy system, while Senators Lyndsey Robinson, ’24, and Lexi Costanza, ’25, were absent and Senator Arina Otbliesk, ’25, was removed from the roster altogether.
Dean for the Student Experience Ian Binnington was the guest speaker at the GA and was in attendance to discuss what to do with the space once occupied by the Caflisch Hall dormitory. The 90-year-old building was demolished in early August, and a week-long survey was sent out on Sept. 25 soliciting student input for the space.

Binnington presented slides and diagrams with students’ responses; the most-requested features were hammock stands, followed by a multi-use pavilion, athletic courts, firepits, picnic tables, and even a fountain.
“I actually think this all coheres into the general theme of the students that responded wanting a space to kind of relax, to hang out, to enjoy themselves in the outdoors,” Binnington said. “There is very little desire to simply have a new lawn.”
Part of the equation, Binnington said, is to consider if new projects will be usable during cold weather as well as sunny climates.
“Now it’s lovely, but it’s not going to be lovely by the end of October,” Binnington said. “You’d have a month or two in the beginning of the fall and you’d have a month or two at the end of spring — so we’ve got to think about what we do in the middle.”
In the context of the weather, Binnington said that a pavilion or similar multi-use structure would make the most sense. However, he also acknowledged that developing a structure like that would take more time than setting up hammock stands.
The Caflisch site process will be slotted into the college’s larger Comprehensive Master Planning process, and preliminary ideas will be presented to the Board of Trustees when they meet later this month, Binnington said. After that, he said he expects to be back at ASG at the end of this semester or the beginning of next semester to receive student input on final project plans.
“There’s a decent chance that ground doesn’t get broken for anything major until next spring … but I think there’s a decent chance that even for the seniors, by the time you graduate in May, some of these things can have come to fruition,” Binnington said. “This is not necessarily a project that we see taking years; a lot of the ideas that you have are things that we can do relatively quickly.”
In response to a question from Class of 2026 President Lorenzo Scarnati, Binnington said that the feedback form was still open as of Tuesday evening, and that students may still be able to use it.
“The longer you wait, the less likely it is that your idea is going to get included,” Binnington said, adding that additional votes for already-popular items likely would not make a difference. “If you’ve got a significantly different idea, something you don’t see represented in here, then absolutely, but do not delay.”

Reports and Appointments
Director of the Treasury Hunter Goerman, ’25, announced some changes in the financial system. The check request will soon be able to be viewed and completed entirely on the Engage platform. The PDF part of the reimbursement form will be available on Engage as well, while the Google Form for reimbursements will remain in place.
“So starting next week, hopefully, but I will make a formal announcement when it’s up and running,” Goerman said.
Goerman also announced club leaders will only have to attend a finance committee meeting if their request exceeds $100.
“That’s to kind of go with the recent uptick in requests,” Goerman said. “Since there’s been so many, I haven’t had time to meet with all of them, so hopefully that makes it easier.”
Goerman’s final budget request totalled just over $22,000 — $20,055.55 from the General Fund, and $2,138.51 from the Surplus Fund.
This is the biggest spending week since April 11, when ASG approved a total of $24,426 in spending — around $12,600 from the General Fund, $9,500 from the Surplus Fund and $2,300 from the CILC Fund.
Most of the spending came from four clubs, all of which requested more than $3,500 each from the General Fund. ASG itself received $3,514 for a sweatshirt event, Union Latinx — listed as Union Latina — received $3,605 for a movie night and blanket making, Orchesis received $3,600 for costumes for an upcoming performance and the club hockey team received $3,560.09 for jerseys and a bus to a game.
That final expenditure — along with a line for “$235 or $135” to the Legion of Allegheny Gamers — could be out of alignment with ASG’s last known financial guidelines from the previous academic year.
Those guidelines require that funds for replacing equipment and uniforms for club sports come from the Surplus Fund, not the General Fund.
The only other spending for equipment replacement came in the form of funding for fresh gear for the Outing Club. That $2,100 was allocated from the Surplus Fund.
Goerman could not be reached for comment before press time.
During “New Business,” ASG voted to approve a pair of students to serve on college committees.
Zack Wyse, ’25, was approved as the fourth and final student representative to the Finance and Facilities Committee. In his presentation to the Senate, Wyse said he has always been passionate about finance, did an eight-week research project on the topic over the summer and served on the committee last year.
“I think being on the committee again this year will allow me to observe that lens and how the school operates and manages its funds,” Wyse said.
Wyse was approved with a unanimous vote.
The Senate also appointed Lucia Jueguen, ’24, to serve on the Study Away and Campus Internationalization Committee.
“Since I first came here, I’ve been very involved with the International Education office,” Jueguen said, adding that as an international student and International Studies major, she is familiar with the college’s processes.
Jueguen was approved with another unanimous vote.
Due to Fall Break, ASG will not meet Tuesday. Instead, the next GA will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.