The Boston University Student Government Senate gathered Monday and voted to defer herNetwork’s $1,000 funding request until the BU student organization consults the BU Allocations Board. Twenty-two senators voted to defer the proposal, seven abstained and one was against, according to the meeting’s minutes.
herNetwork outlined in the meeting a total of $5,530 needed for its spring conference, scheduled for Mar. 19 in the Rafik B. Hariri building. The money will be used on a range of expenses, from facilities management to catering, the meeting’s presentation slides stated.
Julia Haas, president of herNetwork, said the group respects Senate’s decision and plans to request Senate funding approval again in the future.
“It is a fair decision, just because we haven’t filled the Allocations Board request yet,” Haas, a senior in the Questrom School of Business, said after the meeting. “I hope they’ll reconsider once we submit that request.”
An advocate for increasing networking opportunities and women empowerment, herNetwork will bring more than 35 companies to the conference to cover an array of business-related topics such as accounting and fashion, Haas said.
“The basic purpose of the event is to empower all of our attendees [in pursuing] their career goals, to connect them with speakers from lots of industries [and to] inform them of the career paths out there,” Haas said. “People will be able to network and hopefully make connections.”
Senate Chair Courtney Bold, a senior in Questrom, said Senate supports herNetwork’s interest in women empowerment and looks forward to funding the group in the future.
“We hope to see more student initiatives come forward to us not only for funding, but for SG’s backing to help them take things to administration,” Bold said. “We may be looking to fund them in the future, [depending on] whether AB will fund them.”
Hillel Senator Daniel Hochberg, a senior in Questrom, said he supports herNetwork’s conference agenda, while agreeing to decrease the amount of funding proposed.
“It is important to fund these kinds of events because a lot of juniors and seniors are looking for jobs and internships,” Hochberg said during the meeting. “These are the kind of events where that starts and happens. This is a great opportunity.”
Senate also unanimously approved Jianghong Liu, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, as the new judicial commissioner. Liu’s predecessor, Louis Vitti, resigned last semester, The Daily Free Press reported Nov. 13.
“I’m really honored to be confirmed as the judicial commissioner,” Liu said after the meeting. “I look forward to working with everyone in SG. Right now, the Constitution is going through a lot of changes. [I hope SG will be] more democratic, more responsive [and] more open to the students.”
SG President Andrew Cho said he anticipates Liu’s input to the new Constitution and herNetwork’s future proposal.
“[Liu] will be great with the constitutional reform,” Cho, a senior in CAS, said. “I just think [herNetwork’s proposal] was a little premature, but we’d love to see them come back again once they hear back from AB.”
Current judicial commissioner Timothy Geraghty requested to temporarily continue his position as judicial commissioner until a replacement is approved. The request was unanimously approved by Senate.
“As judicial commissioner, it was an interesting semester,” Geraghty, a senior in the College of Engineering, said. “It was very turbulent. I think through that semester, we came together.”
The other judicial commissioner, Justin Flynn, a junior in Questrom, will remain in positional status until Senate votes in the next meeting, Cho said.
Several senators voiced their support of the meeting’s outcomes, while others wish the turnout for herNetwork’s funding proposal was different.
David Huang, a CAS Senator and a freshman in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, said the meeting was productive and that he agreed with the postponement of herNetwork’s funding.
“The postponement was justified, and I completely agree with postponing the funding since they do have other sources of funding,” Huang said. “We are currently running low on our funds, [so] it’s better to focus on advocacy projects.”
Maya Reyes, a Warren Towers Senator and a freshman in CAS, said she hopes Liu will be fair in her job as the judicial commissioner.
“I expect Judicial will continue to do what [judicial commissioners] do and be fair about their judgments,” Reyes said. “I [also] understand herNetwork really wanted the funding, but they need to go to AB first.”
Cindy Lee, a School of Hospitality Administration Senator and a senior in SHA, voted against the postponement and said she wishes SG could have given a final answer.
“Personally, I want to make the decision now and just go from there,” Lee said. “I know we all show support, it’s just that we want to see what the AB says before we start putting in financial support.”
