Student Body Vice President Rennie Meyers ’15 announced at the Senate meeting on Tuesday that Senate intends to reform the bylaws governing the $300,000 student body endowment before summer. “My goal is to get it done by the end of the semester,” she said.
At the Tuesday meeting, Meyers invoked a proposal made by ex-Student Body Vice President Paul Messick ’15 in December as one potential model for reform, though she says that Messick’s plan is one among many to consider. “I think Paul’s proposal is great, but I want to make it clear that this isn’t the only way we could restructure.” Meyers says that a public discussion with an array of different, detailed proposals is upcoming.
In December, Messick proposed that the approximately $15,000 in interest that the endowment generates annually go toward financial aid; internship grants; and on-campus capital improvements, like the $10,400 Senate allotted to KRRC to buy and install new transmission equipment and apply for a transmission license.
Under Messick’s plan, 25 percent of the endowment’s annual interest would automatically go toward financial aid, and the remaining 75 percent would be reserved for grants for unpaid summer internships and capital improvements. Messick said that creating new grants for unpaid internships might prod the administration to follow suit. Dean of Students Mike Brody emphasized that the gesture would not be lost on administrators. “The iron’s hot right now,” Brody said at the December Senate meeting. “I think this is a really wise idea.”
Last semester’s Senate only discussed Messick’s proposal, opting to leave decisive legislative action to this semester’s Senate, but it did rename the student body endowment the “Endowment for Student Body Autonomy.” Senators argued that the new name might encourage alumni donations to the endowment, should Senate choose to solicit them.
Messick’s proposal was silent as to whether any interest should be reinvested in the endowment. Senate must also decide what to do with the approximately $95,000 in unspent interest that has accrued over the past several years.
Logistical challenges remain. The Senate bylaws require Senate to receive the consent of the Development Office before soliciting donations for the student body endowment, which Development has historically been reticent to give. Further, any new grants will require a framework for deciding how to award them.