The Norwich University Student Government Association (SGA) met three times during the month of November, and were able to discuss and vote on topics ranging from possible upcoming events for the students on campus to their attendance policy for all SGA members.
Nov. 3rd
Six of 16 senators were present at this meeting—just three short of quorum, meaning senators in attendance were unable to vote on items.
SGA-Sponsored Campus Events
The first topic of discussion was how SGA should advertise and interact with the student body, and the conversation quickly turned towards public-facing events.
One idea for such an event was setting up a stand offering hot cocoa and s’mores for finals week this semester; something done in previous years. However, some senators raised the concerns of cost—saying that the price of those events in the past was too high. To save on funds, senators agreed to cut s’mores from the offering.
Additional ideas for spring 2026 included a superlatives ceremony—an event where individuals are given fun, creative awards for unique traits or accomplishments. The idea was “aimed at connecting both lifestyles,” meaning civilian and corps students, as well as to foster a “friendly, competitive spirit,” according to SGA President Hector Aponte. Senators liked the idea, but agreed to table the discussion for another time when more members were present.
SGA Attendance Policy
Since their weekly meetings occur so late in the day, the senators discussed the idea of moving meetings to an earlier time for the spring 2026 semester. The primary reason for this was due to concerns over low attendance, which is considered by a majority of SGA members to be a glaring in-house issue that the organization has been dealing with for a while.
According to the general consensus at the meeting, the problem with low attendance in the previous academic year posed a serious obstacle for passing legislation. The senators agreed that the current attendance policy is too lenient, which led to an oversized roster of student members—thus making it so the SGA would make never make quorum, and ultimately could
One senator representing the SGA judicial committee proposed amending the SGA constitution to include that elected senators must attend 75% of SGA meetings for the year. One of the main problems the SGA had in its previous year, according to senators at the Nov. 3 meeting, was low attendance from senators. They agreed that their current approach to attendance is too lenient for all the reasons mentioned above, and the new policy would give their organization more credibility through increased accountability.
Nov. 10th
Eight of 10 senators were in attendance, meaning that quorum was met and senators were able to vote on items brought to the floor.
Hot Chocolate Bar
The first item was a general call on SGA members to volunteer for the Hot Chocolate Bar event planned for the end of the semester. Logistics were also discussed, particularly how the shifts would be divided up among volunteers as well as how to incorporate student feedback into the event.
Senators went back and forth between whether written slips of paper into dropboxes or simple QR codes would work best, but ultimately settled on the former.
The talks eventually moved on from the Hot Chocolate event, and turned to something that had been discussed among senators for weeks at this point—should first year Norwich students be allowed the opportunity to become SGA senators?
First-Year Student Senators
While most senators were open to the prospect, there was still plenty of debate on how exactly a new policy like this should be implemented. Some of the discussed ideas included new prerequisites for freshman students like attending 3 consecutive meetings, waiting until after midterms of the semester they join SGA, and requiring a 2/3 majority vote from the senate due to the “abnormal circumstances”. After some further discussion, these proposals were put to a vote individually—and the majority voted in favor for all three.
Attendance Policy Voting
One last item was voted on; namely the attendance policy discussed the week prior. The bill swiftly passed as amended (no changes) with a unanimous vote, which isn’t a surprise given the importance of this policy’s new parameters to the operation of SGA,
Nov. 17th
Senator Confirmation
The last SGA meeting before Thanksgiving break began with their first senator confirmation since adoption of the new policy on first-year student senators. Finn Johnson, a freshman in the Corps of Cadets, gave a short speech to the senate on how he would be a good fit among the ranks of the SGA.
Senators were then given the floor to ask Johnson questions, most of which were if he had met the prerequisites to become a first-year senator as outlined in the new policy. And after a near-unanimous vote with only 2 abstentions, Johnson officially became the newest member of the SGA senate.
Hot Chocolate Bar (cont.)
Next up on the agenda was finalizing the details for the Hot Chocolate Bar event that had been a topic of discussion for the last two meetings. A draft of the bill was passed around the room for everyone to look at, and most members agreed with the majority of it. However, one aspect of the draft that seemed to be up in the air was whether or not Sodexo should play a role in the event.
The two choices presented were either to purchase all the hot cocoa materials from some third-party and SGA volunteers would prepare it themselves, or contract Sodexo to provide both pre-made hot chocolate and other materials like cups and heaters. While there was no confirmed cost for Sodexo’s services or a concrete estimate for the bulk retail price for hot chocolate materials, most SGA members agreed that this decision would come down to cost. The senate has yet to officially vote on this bill.
Finalizing SGA Fall 2025 Meeting Attendance
In the first action since passing their new attendance policy in the previous meeting, the judiciary committee announced their intention to review the current roster of SGA senators to determine who will be affected by the new policy when it goes into effect in the Spring 2026 semester.=
This motion was brought on by Jarek Fryclewicz, head of the SGA judiciary committee, who led a majority of the discussion surrounding the attendance policy in both of the previous two meetings. His proposal to the senate was that he read off the list of current SGA senators, and then everyone votes on who meets the new attendance policy criteria and who does not.
After a lengthy discussion, the senate agreed that the SGA members who do not fit the new attendance criteria should be issued a notice of suspension pending review, meaning that they will be given the opportunity to appeal once the police is officially instated.
