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Cornell University

Office of the Assemblies

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Meeting

Monday, April 14, 2025

  • Term:
    2024-2025
  • Assembly/Committee: Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
  • Date & Time:
    Mon, Apr 14, 2025 - 5:00pm
    to
    6:30pm
  • Location:
    701 Clark Hall/Zoom
  • Agenda:
  • Meeting Packet:
  • Audio Recording:
    GPSA-20250414-1.MP3 (39.27 MB)
  • Minutes:
    1. Call to Order
      1. O. Karim called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
        1. Members Present: A. Basquiat, N. Brennan, C. Chappel, J. Chobirko, C. Douglas, A. Garcia-Ortiz, I. Gatimi, A. George, D. Ghimire, M. James, O. Karim, A. LaGressa, Z. Liu, Z. Lynch, C. Meffert, T. Nguyen, A. Puder, S.

    Sepp, Y. Wu, J. Xiao I. Yaya

    1. Members Absent: D. Browne, S. Hampi, A. Kapoor, S. Karaikal, A. Koyyada,

    A. Lando, S. Matan, K. Patel, S. Raimondi, C. Wang

    1. Also Present: K. Boor, S. Connaughton, M. Heeney, J. Withers

     

    1. Approval of the March 24th Meeting Minutes
      1. Z. Lynch moved to approve the minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

     

    1. Reports of Officers and Committee Updates
      1. Executive Committee
        1. None.
      2. Operations and Staffing
        1. Z. Lynch reminded members to attend last GPSA socials.
      3. Appropriations
        1. None.
      4. Communications
        1. A. Garcia-Ortiz reminded candidates that petition signatures are not votes.
      5. Finance
        1. None.
      6. Student Advocacy
        1. None.
      7. Diversity and International Students
        1. A. George updated the GPSA on the upcoming DISC cultural festival.
      8. Programming
      9. A. LaGressa gave updates on the upcoming gala.
    2. Faculty Teaching, Advising, and Mentorship Award
      1. J. Chobirko gave news on the upcoming faculty awards ceremony.


     

     

     

    1. Graduate School
      1. None.

     

    1. Presentation
      1. Remarks from Cornell University President
        1. Michael I. Kotlikoff, Cornell University President, Kathryn Boor, Dean of the Graduate School and Marla Love, Dean of Students addressed the GPSA. The President updated the body on recent University deals with CGSU, the Expressive Activity Policy, federal funding cuts and University finances, and threats to international students.
        2. President Kotlikoff and Deans Boor and Love fielded questions from the body.
      2. GPSA 2025 Elections Updates and Feedback
        1. As the presenter and a sponsor of Resolution 12, O. Karim handed chair powers over to N. Brennan.
        2. O. Karim presented on the ongoing GPSA elections, reporting to the body on election data, rules changes, timeline, etc.
        3. O. Karim answered members’ questions and addressed feedback.
        4. Z. Lynch moved to extend the questioning period by five minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
        5. O. Karim continued to answer questions.

     

    1. Legislation
      1. Resolution 12: Protecting LGBTQ+ Students (Sponsors: Zander Lynch, GPSA EVP Operations, Ocean Sowad Karim, GPSA President, QGrads, SIPS Community Advocacy)
        1. Z. Lynch, O. Karim, and M. Heeney presented on Resolution 12, pushing for “institutional safeguards and long-term commitments” in the form of legal and medical resources, continued program funding, etc.
        2. The sponsors answered questions from the GPSA.
        3. Seeing no comments in the discussion period, N. Brennan moved on to the previous question.
        4. Resolution 12 passed by a vote of 14-0-0.
        5. N. Brennan returned chair powers to O. Karim.
        6. Z. Lynch moved to extend the meeting by twenty minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.


     

     

     

    1. Resolution 13: Resolution Advocating for Universal TCAT Access for Cornell Graduate and Professional Students (Sponsor: Thien Nguyen, Voting Member, Organization of Cornell Planners)

      1. The sponsors presented on the resolution, pointing to existing similar systems at other schools and arguing that the resolution would improve TCAT accessibility, sustainability, and routes.

        1. The sponsors took questions on funding and byline compliance.
        2. N. Brennan moved to amend the resolution by striking “as a core
        3. N. Brennan moved to amend the resolution to remove all mention of the GPSAF: cutting “through the Graduate and Professional Student Activities Fee (GPSAF) from line 6, “through the GPSAF” on line 27, and “as a part of the Graduate and Professional Student Activities Fee” from line 31. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
        4. J. Chobirko moved to amend the resolution to strike lines 44-47. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
        5. M. Heeney, a non-voting member, moved to include a “be it further
        6. Z. Lynch moved to table Resolution 13 to the April 28th, 2025 meeting. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
        7. A. LaGressa moved to extend the meeting by five minutes. A. Garcia-Ortiz counter-moved to extend the meeting by ten minutes. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

        component of the GPSAF” from line 51. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

        resolved” clause before the final “be it further resolved” stating “Be it further resolved, that money is able to be transferred from the GPSAFC to the Student Access Fund to explicitly support equitable graduate and professional student access to transportation and that these funds do not impact the total requested from the Student Access Fund by individual graduate and professional students.” A. Garcia-Ortiz agreed to sponsor the amendment. S. Connaughton pushed for greater emphasis on “universality”.

     

    1. New Business
      1. Resolution 14: Funding a Second Political Polarization Event (Sponsor: Nicholas Brennan, Executive Vice President and Yuqing Wu, Voting Member)
        1. N. Brennan presented on Resolution 14, asking for $1,000 from the GPSA Reserve Fund to fund a campus event to encourage political discourse at Cornell and counter political polarization.


     

     

     

    1. Z. Lynch moved to vote to consider Resolution 14. The motion passed by a two-thirds majority.
      1. During the discussion period, N. Brennan moved to amend the resolution to

    change every mention of “GPSA rollover funding” to “GPSAFC rollover

    funding”. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

    1. A. LaGressa moved to the previous question. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
      1. A. Garcia-Ortiz moved to pass Resolution 14 by unanimous consent. With no dissent, Resolution 14 passed by unanimous consent.
      2. Resolution 15: Updating Appendix A and Appendix B (Sponsor: Ocean Sowad Karim, President)
        1. N. Brennan moved to consider Resolution 15. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
        2. O. Karim spoke briefly on Appendices A and B, with more information and a vote to come during the April 28th, 2025 meeting.

     

    1. Open Forum
      1. None .

    The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m. 

    Respectfully Submitted,

    Anthony Wang

    Clerk of the Assembly

    GPSA-Minutes-Apr14-2025-1.pdf (170.73 KB)

Associated Resolutions

Resolution Abstract Status
GPSA R14 (2024-2025): Funding a Follow-up Political Polarization Event at Cornell This resolution passes $1,000 from the GPSAFC rollov er funding to cover the costs of food for a follow-up event in collaboration with EARS, with a guest from the State Policy Advocacy Clinic, pertaining to political polarization at Cornell University. Acknowledged by the President
GPSA R15 (2024-2025): Updating Appendix A and Appendix B This resolution amends GPSA’s Appendix A and Appendix B for a more concise and readable governing document that better reflects the financial operations and agreements of the GPSA. Accepted by the President