Community Senate, Guilford’s student governmental organization, was so poorly attended last year it could barely function. To encourage attendance and try to make it easier for students to have their voices heard, last year’s Senate voted to change their representation system. People who ran or voted in the elections on Tuesday viewed the results.
There will now be four rotating seats. Students may register for a single senate meeting if they want to bring up an issue or vote on a topic they find particularly important, said Senate Vice-president Tamara Asad during the senate meeting on Aug. 27.
Classes no longer have representatives. Instead groups of clubs with similar basis will have one or more senate seats. For instance, all “awareness clubs,” which include a.i.d.s About AIDS, Gender Awareness, and SAFE, have a single representative. The clubs were categorized by Asad, and are subject to revision.
“That doesn’t mean they all have the same issues; they’re different groups, but it will be helpful for different groups to come together, promoting communication between the groups and at the same time having representation in Senate. But at the same time, of course, if they disagree on something they still have the rotating four seats,” said Asad.
The club categories include a “special interest” category. This classification was added by executive decision of Asad and Senate President Floyd McKissick III the night before the election.
“This is a group for any member of a club who doesn’t feel as though they fit into the other categories,” said Asad.
There are also eight athletic student appointments, four for each semester. Student athletes will hold their seats for the semester their sport is not in season. They switch half-way through the year so that their Senate participation will not conflict with their practice schedules.
“It would be useful to get someone on the budget committee,” said Jeff Frisbee, a member of the football and cheerleading teams and of the rugby club. “I mean, we don’t need a whole bunch of people on there, but the rugby team needs some new jerseys,” said Frisbee.
Just like last year, there are still seats for an international student, transfer student, GLBTQA senator, and chairs of other Guilford Committees, like an Academic Affairs chair and a Secretary of Union chair.
Dorms still elect representatives, but they have only a single representative apiece, reduced from the three seats Binford, Bryan, and Milner had last year.
There is only one day-student representative this year, cut from last year’s two. There are two students of color representatives, increased from last year’s one. All the changes bring the total number of Senate seats to 48, eight more seats than last year.
“This reorganization of the representation is designed so that the senators have a constituency group which to go to discern the issue that gets brought to the table. So, in that regard, it should hopefully increase participation and the effectiveness of Senate,” said Senate advisor Rebecca Saunders.
The Senate Executive Council, composed of the Senate president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, also hopes to encourage attendance through this restructuring.
“We had such poor attendance toward the end of last year that we couldn’t get anything done, because we needed at least one third of the people there to vote and still be Quakerly,” said Senate Fall Treasurer, Cassandra Baker. “The more people we have attending meetings, the easier it will be for Senate to do its job and get information back to the administration,” said McKissick.
However, it proved difficult to find a student not on Senate that was enthused about the changes.
“My impression this year is that they’re trying to create a lot of diversity in Senate,” said CCE student Peter Raines, after attending the Aug. 27 meeting. “But in the process of creating diversity they seem to have eliminated it in a lot of ways, by having very specific openings with very strict qualifications. I don’t know if that will work in the long run. I think they should have left it more open so more students could be involved. If you happen to fit in you will have your voice heard, but what about the rest of the people? I mean the world doesn’t fit into tiny little bubbles.”
Club Categories

Religious Clubs, Two Seats: Quaker Concerns, GCRO, GCF, MSA, Hillel, Pagan Mysticism
Social Concerns, One seat: Amnesty International, Forevergreen, GANE, Project Community, Gardening Club
Awareness Clubs, One seat: a.i.d.s. About AIDS, Gender Awareness, SAFE,
Publications Clubs, One seat: Guilfordian, Piper, Quaker, WQFS
Educational Clubs, One seat: Websterian Pre-Law, MRC, Spanish Club, Philosophy Club, Health Science Club, German Club, Beta Beta Beta, Odyssey of the Mind (Odyssey of the Mind was moved from Religious Clubs on Sept. 1, 2003)
Sports Clubs, Three seats: Women’s Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, Trainer’s Club, Scrabble and Chess, Revelers, Outdoor’s club, Men’s Rugby, Circus Club, Bowling Club, Yachting Club.
Performing Arts Clubs, One seat: Fancy Feet, Expression in Dance, Choir.
Special Interests Clubs, One seat: Any club that feels they do not fit one of the above categories
Note: Club Categorization still subject to change.