Student Assembly Meeting

Thursday, April 16, 2026

• Term:
  2025-2026
• Assembly/Committee: Student Assembly
• Date & Time:
  Thu, Apr 16, 2026 - 4:45pm
  to
  6:30pm
• Location:
  Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room (WSH407)/Zoom
• Agenda:
• Meeting Packet:
• Audio Recording:
  SA April 16th.mp3 (72.14 MB)

  SA April 16th Pt. 2.mp3 (67.66 MB)
• Minutes:

  I. Call to Order
       a. D. Addoquaye called the meeting to order at 4:45 PM.
       b. Members Present: D. Addoquaye, A. Aftab, S. Agarwal, J. Anand, L. Blum, D. Carson, A. Cekic, C. Cook, G. Dorward, M. Ehrlich, C. Flournoy (proxied), E. Galperin, I. Gayle, V. Kakra, K. Krishtopa, A. Lyons, Y. Masoud, E. Porter, J. Purcell, H. Spector, J. Swavy, C. Tarala, T. Waguespack, A. Walters, H. Watkins, E. Yao, K. Young (proxied)
       c. Members Absent: M. Causey, Z. deRham, A. Fard, L. Han, C. Kim, Z. Yabut
       d. Also Present: K. Abebe, E. Chaudhuri, I. Gilenson
  
  II. Reading of the Land Acknowledgment
       a. D. Addoquaye stated the land acknowledgement.
  
  III. Consent Calendar
       a. Resolution 83, approving the disbursement of airport shuttles, no dissent.
       b. Resolution 83 is approved.
  
  IV. Reports of Officers, Committees, and Liaisons
       a. E. Galperin shared that the Dining Committee will be meeting on Monday at Cook House, where they will continue to discuss dining options for Equity Engagement Community and the Veterans House along with the Reusable Cup Proposal.
       b. I. Gilenson shared that the Student Assembly election voting will be on Monday along with the remaining election timeline. He further shared that candidate profiles are live on the Student Assembly website, broken up by Student Assembly race.
       c. C. Tarala reminded the assembly that as they enter election season, they should act with decorum. He reported that the International Students Committee never reached enough required members to run and will not be meeting.
       d. A. Walters shared that there will be a Meet the Candidates event, which will be hosted on Monday or Wednesday. He added that members should have gotten the email about the assembly roundup and the Google form to submit it, along with a mock version, which will be due on April 27th, which is also the final day of the voting period. He finally shared that by the agendas, he left a couple of the election flyers models and encouraged members to let him know of any notes or ideas.
       e. I. Gilenson gave a shout out to A. Walters for the work he’s done that’s allowed the Elections Committee to focus on the rules and logistics of the elections. He encouraged members to attend the events and reminded them that rules still apply and the goal is a free and fair election where many people vote.
       f. L. Blum shared that the Environmental Committee will most likely meet this Sunday from 5PM to 6PM and that Wednesday the 22 is Earth Day, where they will have around 5 to 7 tables in Ho Plaza from 2:30-5:30 with some environmental organizations tabling.
  
  V. Announcements
       a. None.
  
  VI. Presentations
       a. Presentation by Dean Love and Dean Dunifon on Cornell’s Presidential Task Force on Sexual Assault. They shared that they are taking a public health approach and want to focus on prevention and the social conditions in which assaults occur.
       b. The assembly entered a question and answer session where assembly members asked questions about accountability, plans to help victims, Greek life’s influence, Cornell’s commitment to implementing the recommendations, specific metrics used to estimate success, illegal drug usage on campus, what peer institutions are doing, how they navigate the use of roofies, plans to ensure participation in the sexual assault training for incoming students, and imposing consequences.
  
  VII. Public Comment
  a. A speaker advocated to vote in favor of Resolution 80.
  VIII. Second Reading Calendar
       a. Resolution 75: Reassessing the Financial Relationship Between Cornell University and the State of Qatar
            i. E. Galperin shared that they provide us more money than other countries and regularly employed slave labor, hosts political offices of terrorist organizations, funnels money to terrorist organizations, criminalizes being a member of the LGBT community, and bribes the US President with a new airplane. He added that Cornell has failed to fully disclose the money it has received from Qatar and emphasized the importance of publicly holding Cornell accountable to complying with Section 117. He expressed concerns with being dependent on Qatar, such as whether the ILR school would still be able to teach about slave labor in the Gulf and whether Cornell will be able to provide resources to communities that Qatar prosecutes.
            ii. D. Addoquaye moved the assembly into a discussion period, where they discussed Qatar’s labor policies and individual language.
            iii. E. Chaudhuri motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            iv. The resolution moved to the Third Reading Calendar.
       b. Resolution 81: Funding of Paid Membership Organizations
            i. H. Spector shared that the resolution is about organizations that receive yearly allotments of funding from the Student Activity Fee that charge their members a fee to attend anything. She shared that these organizations should not be able to double dip from the Student Activity Fees. She noted that the resolution is only aimed at organizations that charge a membership fee to show up and that these organizations can still apply to funding boards if they want to put on an event for the whole campus.
            ii. M. Ehrlich shared that the Student Activity Fee collects money from students who expect the organizations that receive that money to spend the money on them and that the fee is meant to make activities accessible to all students on campus.
            iii. D. Addoquaye moved the assembly into a discussion period, where they discussed national organizations, defining a membership fee, waiving the due, carving our specific exceptions, solidifying the purpose of the resolution, restrictions on how the money will be used, and amending the assembly’s internal governing documents and SAFC’s constitution.
            iv. M. Ehrlich motioned to close debate, no dissent.
            v. The resolution moved to the Third Reading Calendar.
       c. Resolution 82: Approving the Recommendation from the Ad-Hoc Committee on Special Projects
            i. H. Watkins shared that the amended version of Resolution 57 resulted in the formation of a Special Projects Ad Hoc Committee, which met on April 8th and decided that there two parts that needed to be added to Special Projects: the VP of Finance being able to find these organizations if they artificially inflate costs or misrepresent their funding use and adding additional information about fixed travel expenses and how to calculate travel costs.
            ii. D. Addoquaye moved the assembly into a discussion period, where they discussed fine details, whether the committee will meet again in the year, and closed membership organizations.
            iii. A. Walters motioned to amend line 22 to read “be it therefore resolved, the Cornell Student Assembly Standing Rules section 111B, have a Section 8 that reads, ‘organizations without open membership are not eligible to apply for special projects funding’,” dissent.
                 1. M. Ehrlich motioned to amend the amendment to say “closed membership organizations that charge dues to their members,” dissent.
                      a. J. Anand talked about not funding selective organizations.
                      b. M. Ehrlich withdrew his amendment to the amendment.
                 2. A. Cekic motioned to amend the amendment to say “organizations without open membership are not eligible for Special Projects Funding, except in cases where the applicant is hosting an event open to all Cornell undergraduate students,” passed by a vote of 17-0-1.
                 3. E. Chaudhuri motioned to end debate, no dissent.
                 4. The amendment passed by a vote of 20-1-1.
            iv. E. Chaudhuri motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            v. The resolution passed to the Third Reading Calendar.
  
  IX. Third Reading Calendar
       a. Resolution 67: Transferring Funds to the Multicultural Greek Fraternal Council
            i. H. Watkins shared that the resolution would transfer $60,000 to MGFC to encourage more financial responsibility while keeping them on the byline.
            ii. H. Watkins motioned to amend line 4 to change 65 to 66 and line 14 to change 65 to 66, no dissent.
            iii. E. Chaudhuri motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            iv. The resolution passed by a vote of 13-2-8.
       b. Resolution 73: Calling for Cornell to Improve its Land Acknowledgement and Recognize the Benefits Obtained through the Morrill Act of 1862
            i. D. Carson highlighted President Kotlikoff’s response regarding Cornell not being responsible for the lands that we benefited from because they were already U.S. lands and that the resolution will try to see their response.
            ii. D. Carson motioned to end debate, no dissent.
            iii. The resolution passed by a vote of 21-0-1.
   

  SA Minutes 4-16-26.docx.pdf (152.17 KB)