The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/student-government/)
The Student Assembly announced the results of its Fall 2024 election on Monday. Four freshmen and one transfer student were chosen from 11 freshman and three transfer student candidates. Freshmen and transfer students received digital ballots to vote in their respective elections between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24.
The candidates for Student Assembly president and executive vice president discussed free speech, Cornell’s administration and their qualifications at a Q&A-style forum on Tuesday.
Last Monday, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly heard presentations from the Public Safety Advisory Committee and the Title IX office in a Monday meeting before passing a resolution to honor Veterans Day with a University-wide break.
The Student Assembly voted Thursday to hold the University responsible for actions taken by its third president Jacob Gould Schurman, who played a key role in advancing American involvement in the Philippines.
In a Tuesday meeting, the University Assembly discussed topics of emissions and immigration.
The long-standing effort to blunt the effect of the student contribution fee — a charge that ranges from $2,700 to $3,700 for all Cornell students — came to a head at Thursday’s Student Assembly meeting, as a panel made up of students argued in favor of waiving the fee.
The Black Caucus delves into their plans for the future after a couple of months of being in action.
The Sun reported last semester that “for the first time in recent memory,” the Cornell Student Assembly had “approved a motion to vote by secret ballot” on Resolution 36, which “urged” Cornell to divest from companies “profiting from the occupation of Palestine.” Weeks of student lobbying led up to a high-stakes vote, which drew hundreds of Cornellians to Willard Straight Hall. These students hoped to see their elected representatives take a stand on an issue of great moral, political and historical importance. Instead, attendees watched as their representatives hid behind the secret ballot, an impermissible and anti-democratic political trick with a corrosive effect on student governance. As we start a new term, the Cornell community has to reckon with the consequences of the S.A.’s secrecy and prevent the elected body from doing further damage to campus democracy. Most strikingly, the vote by secret ballot was an egregious violation of the bylaws that are supposed to bind the S.A. These bylaws state “secret ballot votes shall be reserved for executive sessions,” a type of closed-door session the S.A. did not enter during the divestment showdown.