Senate pens letter to cabinet on Maundy Thursday night classes

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Nora Betts
Sower Staff

The Student Senate on Tuesday approved a letter to Concordia’s presidential cabinet requesting night classes and campus events be rescheduled or canceled on the evening of Maundy Thursday to allow students and faculty to attend church services.

Senate officers said the letter is unlikely to change events and classes this year due to the short time frame, but said they hope it will make a difference in coming years.

The letter explains that canceling or rescheduling events after 6 p.m. on Maundy Thursday would “prevent students and faculty from being forced to choose between their academic obligations and their faith.”

Dog House Swipe Boxes

The hiring of Chartwells’ new Director of Dining Services Patrick O’Brien revived the Senate’s previous discussion about the Dog House swipe box program.

The swipe box program, which was discontinued due to budgeting concerns two years ago, offered a six-item menu available for purchase at the Dog House Grill with a meal swipe rather than using Bulldog Bucks. Senate officers and members previously expressed interest in reinstating the program in conjunction with the O2GO reusable lunchboxes. The death of Chartwells’ prior director, Bob Agee, put the swipe box discussion on hold.

Senate Treasurer Maddy Peters said that while Chartwells has a new director, the short time frame for the rest of the semester and O’Brien’s newness to the position likely will continue to delay discussion.

“The biggest thing is that it is rather late in the semester and he is new, so we don’t want to throw this on him,” said Peters. “It’s possible that it might just be too late to get anything done.”

Peters said that Rebekah Freed, director of student development, suggested that the Senate and O’Brien begin communicating to see what changes he plans to make regarding dining services.

“It’s possible that what we’re looking for might already be kind of in his brain,” Peters said.

The Senate will invite O’Brien to speak at a meeting after Easter break. Senate member Nathaniel Mars said he hopes that such early discussion will prompt the Senate and Chartwells to figure out the issue of the swipe box program.

“If we get it started now, it’s possible we could figure out something over the summer,” said Mars.

Concordia Clubs Facebook Page

The Senate also voted to have the Public Relations Committee create a Concordia Clubs Facebook page to post announcements and boost involvement in official campus clubs.

The Senate held an extensive discussion about the logistics of setting up a Facebook page or group and assigning administrators.