On Nov. 10, the Dartmouth Student Government Senate met for its eighth weekly meeting of the fall term. Led by student body president Chukwuka Odigbo ’25, the Senate met with Safety and Security associate director Tom O’Donnell to discuss campus infrastructure projects such as improved outdoor lighting, bicycle infrastructure and increased pedestrian safety measures.
The group also discussed the installation of new palm biometric recognition scanners in the Class of 1953 Commons and listened to project proposals from the Class of 2028 senators, who were recently admitted into the chamber — including a proposal to provide study supplies in residence hall common rooms and a proposal to create an express bus system from campus to Lebanon.
O’Donnell began by discussing two recent initiatives that were organized to address infrastructure issues on campus. On Nov. 7, DSG led a walk around campus to generate suggestions from students, faculty and staff about improving outdoor lighting infrastructure, O’Donnell said. Earlier in the fall term, Safety and Security held “Cocoa and Conversation,” allowing students to ask Safety and Security staff questions over hot chocolate on the Green, according to O’Donnell. The Senate and O’Donnell also discussed building roads with pedestrian safety in mind and investing in bike infrastructure on campus, O’Donnell said.
In an interview after the meeting, O’Donnell said he believed DSG could help with “education and advocacy” with regard to infrastructure issues.
“[DSG] can see a need — whether it’s around bike, pedestrian, motor vehicle safety or anything — and they can advocate for safety measures to be implemented on campus,” he said.
In an interview after the meeting, General Senator Evan Gerson ’27 — who initially proposed that O’Donnell be invited to the meeting — noted the importance of “coordination with the administration” and “advocacy” from DSG for improvements to campus infrastructure. He pointed to similar past initiatives, such as working with the College to increase the number of bike racks on campus.
Gerson, members of the men’s and women’s rugby teams and other students will attend an open town planning board meeting on Nov. 12 to support improvements proposed by the College to the rugby clubhouse and the surrounding fields, Gerson said. According to the Valley News, the College will present a proposal for a $3.6 million renovation to the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse to the Hanover Planning Board. During the meeting, the students will request improvements to the proposal including “safe pedestrian crossings,” “multi-use path connections” and “covered bicycle racks,” according to a document shared by Gerson with The Dartmouth.
Representative Daniel Pruder ’27 introduced a discussion about Dartmouth Dining’s forthcoming biometric scanner system, which is set to launch in January 2025 and aims to cut down on wait times at ’53 Commons. East Wheelock Senator Jack Wisdom ’26 and North Park Senator Sabik Jawad ’26 reported on a recent meeting with the Dining Advisory Council — a group of DSG members that meets bi-weekly with Dartmouth Dining leadership — during which they discussed the initiative.
“[Wisdom and Jawad] brought up student concerns about privacy and security, and [Dartmouth Dining] has told us that the scanners are completely optional,” Wisdom said in an interview after the meeting.
Wisdom said Dartmouth Dining director Jon Plodzik told the Council that the scanner system does not record or memorize data beyond the binary number associated with an individual.
Wisdom added that DSG needs to address a “lack of awareness” among students about the scanners and how they work, noting that there might be ways to “modify [the scanners] in the future” based on student input.
“It’s not replacing the old system completely,” Wisdom explained. “It’s just an extra addition, and we’re going to try to work with them on tailoring it.”
During the meeting, recently elected Class of 2028 senators also presented their first project proposals as members of DSG. General Senator Taha Tariq ’28 — who worked on a project to expand financial aid opportunities for international students — described making the proposal as an “empowering” process.
“There are avenues that we can take, talking to campus leaders, talking to those in power, so that we can push for positive change,” Tariq said.
Tariq proposed that Dartmouth “expand efforts” to help international students with taxes on scholarships and expand the Dartmouth 4E fund — which supplements traditional financial aid by covering costs related to “essentials,” “enrichment,” “experiences” and “emergencies,” according to the College’s financial aid website.
“Peer institutions are doing much better than us by adjusting financial aid so that it accounts for these taxes,” Tariq said in an interview after the meeting.
South House Senator Senate Shaw ’28 proposed that DSG provide “supply carts” of less commonly used study supplies such as “white out,” “staplers” and “hole puncher[s]” in residence hall common rooms.
“It’s a low cost, high benefit,” Shaw said in an interview after the meeting. “You can find some of these things in the library, [but] once winter comes, [students] are going to be in their [residence halls] more. It just makes the lives of students easier.”
North Park Senator Jude Poirier ’28 proposed a “skeleton crew” shift from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends at the Hinman Mail Center — which currently is closed on weekends — to allow students to pick up packages that had already been processed during the week.
“It’s something that a lot of students have been wanting to happen for a long time,” Poirier said in an interview after the meeting.
He said he hoped expanded hours would be implemented by the end of the winter term.
General House Senator Ana Arzoumanidis ’28 then proposed the implementation of an express bus service from campus to Lebanon.
“Dartmouth can feel very isolating,” Arzoumanidis said in an interview after the meeting. “Lebanon is our closest big-ish city, so I feel like it’s very important that we have better methods for students to [get there].”
In a written statement to The Dartmouth, Odigbo encouraged students to “talk to their senators” and “share their perspectives” on proposed projects.
“We encourage students to talk to their senators showing interest in these projects,” he wrote. “We also encourage students to come to DSG and share their takes.”
While a vote to allocate $900 for a health and wellness committee “Finals Wellness Giveaway” on Nov. 14 at Novack Cafe was on the agenda, no vote was taken. Committee chairs Ian Mckenna ’27 and Sydney O’Connor ’27 were not present and no budget for the event was presented.
A vote to allocate $2,000 for winterim Co-op Food Store vouchers for students staying on campus over winterim passed unanimously, 16-0-0.
Student life committee chair Ikenna Nwafor ’27 then conducted a “temperature check” — an informal voting measure to collect general opinions among senators — on pursuing universal LinkedIn Premium memberships for Dartmouth students and received support from the chamber.
DSG Senate meetings occur weekly on Sundays at 7 p.m. in Collis 101 and are open to all students.
