The meeting began with a moment of remembrance for Sustainability Committee Associate Chair Justin R. Miller, who passed away on Thursday, Nov 4.
Director of Public Safety Chief Beaty spoke to Senate regarding the incident in Bosch Hall last week, urging freshmen to stay vigilant and lock their doors. Beaty said that there were three arrests made: two Canisius students and one student from SUNY Buffalo State College. Beaty also touched on two trainings that she leads, one on what to do when stopped by police and another on what to do in the event of an active shooter.
Next up to speak was Tim Balkin, vice president of business and finance. A big part of Balkin’s talk with USA was details about the parking lot. Balkin says that the new lot will be much safer for students and will include electric charging stations. When Senator Mastrodonato asked which parking passes will be allowed to use this new parking lot, Balkin replied that everyone — regardless of the type of pass they have — will be allowed to park there.
While discussing improvements that Canisius is making to the look and feel of the campus, such as the new paint job in the tunnels, Balkin mentioned that the college wants to reopen Iggy’s as soon as possible. Balkin says that the main reason for this addition is because he feels that it is important for students to have good gathering spaces on campus, especially after the past few semesters within the pandemic. When questioned about a timeline by Vice President Brown, Balkin said that the room is getting a deep clean this week and will hopefully be open in the next week or two; however, the kitchen will likely not be open until February, as there are some logistical things that need to be worked out. Balkin says that there are also talks of a rename for Iggy’s, but nothing has been finalized yet.
The Vegan and Vegetarian Club constitution got a second vote approval, while the Audubon Club and Kappa Delta Psi both got a first vote approval on their constitutions. These will be the last three club approvals for the semester due to time constraints. As far as budget appeals: Society of Economics and Finance received approval for an upcoming speaker series following the success of their last one, Anime Club got approval for the upcoming Geek Gala and The Griffin was approved for funds to continue printing newspapers for the rest of the semester.
The Laudato Si’ Resolution also got a second approval. The resolution argues why Canisius should sign on to the Laudato Si’ Initiative, as outlined by the Vatican and adopted by other universities across the country. The initiative, and subsequent resolution, focus on promoting sustainability to the global community. The resolution also discusses things that the Vatican, New York State and Canisius College are doing in order to achieve this goal. This resolution was authored by Senator Campbell, Senator Gioia, Senator Mastrodonato and Senator O’Brien along with being sponsored by the USA Sustainability Committee.