Fourth Estate/Erica Munisar
Student Senate reflects on Feb. 8 Town Hall
On Feb. 8, Student Senate passed multiple pieces of legislation, a new election code with ranked-choice voting and held a 40-minute discussion about the Student Town Hall on Wednesday. A major portion of the session addressed issues of respect and gossip between members of Mason Student Government, or SG.
President Paul Wyche delivered an 18-minute executive report, expanding on emails between former Secretary Gabriel Curtis and Vice President of University Life Rose Pascarell, a focus from the Feb. 1 session. Wyche also addressed claims from the Feb. 1 session that former Speaker Colin McAuley sent an email to Pascarell in fall 2023. The email reflected that McAuley declined to have SG host a town hall.
“It was an email from former speaker McAuley, which everyone on the current lead team, except for Jack, was cc’ed on… For that written note [email]… I had no foot in the game, I had no… say in whether student government would do it or not in terms of this written note, so do I agree in the method of the process that came to be in terms of how this was… organized or decided, no, not necessarily,” said Wyche.
McAuley, who now works as a Student Assistant to the Vice-President of University Life, shared a full statement to the Fourth Estate regarding the email between him and Pascarell. The statement can be viewed below.
“On Nov. 9 there was a general body meeting for the Student Senate that Vice-President Rose Pascarell requested to attend… where many Student Senators voiced that they do not believe SG should host a town hall and rather the President’s office should hold this town hall,” McAuley said. “Where the confusion occurs is that it is being said that I made a unilateral decision to forgo the right to host this town hall…that decision was based on a lengthy discussion.”
In the full statement, Fourth Estate released a recording of the Nov. 9 Senate session and verified that two senators publicly objected to an SG hosted town hall.
In the last portion of Student Senate, the gallery was invited to sit at the senate roundtable for discussion of the Student Town Hall where 13 senators and nine gallery members made comments, each limited to one minute and 30 seconds per comment.
“I think the student outreach was not great… I had to ask PR to do outreach to RSOs… We should have had a moderator because it got really intense, really fast. I wasn’t there in person… but I watched it live and it was rough,” Speaker Pro Tempore Bas Rawat said.
“Having limited question times, like we’re having in this debate right now, would really help in limiting those triple questions that were asked,” Speaker Scott Tatum said.
“It would be better if we made the next town hall a panel, so like President Washington, Vice-President Pascarell, maybe a student [representative] and then another person if applicable… another idea is to bring in Trishana Bowden to discuss foundation investments because that was a big thing, and a lot of people were dumbfounded that President Washington doesn’t control that,” Wyche said.
Wyche noted to the chamber to refrain from labeling themselves as SG members when asking questions at future student events. He also added that town halls should happen once a year or ideally once a semester.
“I know President Washington’s reactions or disrespectfulness might’ve taken some people aback a certain way. I am not defending him, but I think that there is somewhat of a cultural and racial background to why he might act a certain way,” Wyche said.
“It would be great to set future town halls to two hours or 90 minutes,” Sen. Gibran Adnan said.
The Senate also passed four resolutions and a new Election Judicial Board and the Disputes Board, or EDC code with ranked-choice voting for the upcoming presidential election.
The Senate also passed the following four resolutions: R. #42 A Resolution to Support an Earth Month Environmental Fair, R. #43 A Resolution to Adopt a Mentorship Program, R. #44 A Resolution to Host a Campus Housing Beach Volleyball Tournament to Foster Community at Mason and R. #45 A Resolution to Support the February 24th Tailgate.
STATEMENT FROM FORMER FALL 2023 SPEAKER COLIN MCAULEY
BY COLIN, MCAULEY, CONTRIBUTOR
Editor’s Note: Relating to a Student Town Hall on Feb. 7, claims emerged in two Student Senate sessions on Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 that former Speaker Colin McAuley sent an email in fall 2023 to Vice President Rose Pascarell. The email reflected that McAuley declined to have SG host a town hall. McAuley, who resigned over winter break and now works for Pascarell as Student Assistant to the Vice-President of University Life, was invited to provide context for the email.
The minutes for Pascarell’s presentation to Student Senate on Nov. 9 were not available in the Mason Student Government Legislation Log. However, Fourth Estate received access to and uploaded a recording of the presentation.
Fourth Estate determined that a total of 20 questions and concerns were directed at Pascarell during her presentation. However, the number of senators who spoke is unknown due to the nature of the recording. While there was no formal discussion on who should host the Town Hall, two then senators, former Sen. Jack Fedak and Speaker Pro Tempore Bas Rawat, directly voiced objections to Pascarell about an SG-hosted town hall. The remaining senators provided comments without a stance.
There is currently a lot of talk in the Student Senate about what happened with Student Government’s decision not to host the Student Town Hall with President [Gregory] Washington. I want to share my recollection of the events leading to that decision as I am currently being blamed for making this decision on behalf of the Student Senate.
On Nov. 9 there was a general body meeting for the Student Senate that Vice-President Rose Pascarell requested to attend. She wanted to speak with us about the letters that Washington was sending to the student body. At this meeting, there was a 55-minute discussion between the Student Senate and Pascarell where many Student Senators voiced that they do not believe SG should host a town hall and rather the President’s office should hold this town hall.
While I would provide the minutes for this discussion, they aren’t available as they weren’t recorded for this discussion.
At the end of the meeting, Pascarell requested that the Student Government hosts a town hall. At this point, I spoke for the first time in this discussion, and said to Pascarell that from the discussion that was had, it is clear that the Student Senate would prefer for the President’s office to host this town hall.
After the meeting I spoke with the Student Senators leading SG’s response to the war in Palestine. We strategized what we would like to see from the town hall. From there, I worked with Pascarell to ensure that a town hall was held as it was the request of my organization.
I publicized every update and conferred with Senate Leadership on all decisions. At no point was I told that we should change course. The option to host it ourselves was available, but nobody would support it. Where the confusion occurs is that it is being said that I made a unilateral decision to forgo the right to host this town hall. While the words came out of my mouth, that decision was based on a lengthy discussion in which I facilitated the discussion and did not share my opinion.
If I were to make a decision, I would’ve had the Student Senate host a town hall last semester, and then continue them on a monthly basis to create an avenue for students to speak with their President. However, as Speaker of the Student Senate, I am beholden to what the members of my organization ask for.
Instead of taking initiative and requesting to host all future town halls, the Student Senate is choosing to blame a former member for their problems. If the Student Senate wants to hold town halls with the President of the University, they have the power to do so. This is why I’m confused that I’m being blamed for anything. All I did was ensure that upset students had an opportunity to speak with the Chief Executive of the University, regardless of who hosted it or not.
I hope this clears up the confusion on my role in this business, and I hope the Student Senate takes advantage of the power they hold to make things happen, rather than continuing the consistent internal conflict that has plagued the organization for years.
