At their meeting last Tuesday, Student Council discussed the creation of subcommittees and the efficacy of the proposal process, passed one proposal, and introduced three new ones.
Student Council recently created a subcommittee to promote inclusivity and sensitivity to different perspectives on campus in response to feedback about the Student Council video.
The group also discussed ways to bring about structural changes as opposed to so-called Band-Aid solutions, which led to a discussion of expediting the proposal process. “A lot of times what will happen is because [proposals are] going through so many different steps of communication, things will get shot down, and we won’t really know why,” said Student Body President Vikram Sharma ’20. If the student who wrote a particular proposal can directly communicate with the faculty and staff that are involved, Student Council won’t “find out two weeks later when it gets shot down. We find out then, and we find out ways that we can fix it,” Sharma said.
A proposal by fourth-form Class President Tigo Ponce de Leon ’22 about incorporating compost bins into dorms passed unanimously. “You can actually ask for your dorm to get a compost bin, but you have to bring it to the big bin behind the dining hall. My hope is that a lot of dorms will sign up for this, and if a lot of people get into it, Ms. Homan said that it’s possible that they might add it into the ABM service,” said Ponce de Leon.
Sixth-form Class President Nate White ’20 introduced the first proposal, which was focused on implementing plastic bottle recycling on campus. Since Connecticut allows people to recycle bottles and cans for money in return, White suggested that members of the Choate community could use this recycling through bottle return bins as a way to fundraise.
The second and third new proposals were both introduced by Ponce de Leon. His first proposal aims to address the wellness issue by creating sleep pods. He said that the Health Center, which is planning to build a new Wellness Center, was open to the idea. His second proposal is about finding a way to allow students to buy their iPads provided by the School after graduation. This would help students keep their Notability files and other important documents “without having to redownload them onto a different platform.” Ponce de Leon added, “If a student is willing to pay for it, the School can make money off of it and can buy a new iPad.” Ponce de Leon is currently talking to Director of Information Technology Services Mr. Andrew Speyer to gain more information.
Underclassmen Day Student Representative Zayd Gonzalez ’22, who is also on the Dining Hall Committee, reported that he is currently drafting a proposal to make nutrition facts available to students. SAGE, prompted by the Student Council, is still looking for appropriate cups and bowls that are larger than the currently used ones but will still fit in the dishwasher machine. SAGE has also accepted the idea of Sundae Sundays and will be implementing it soon.
