The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate elected vice chairs for its three committees and made plans to make campus more wheelchair-accessible and streamline club funding at an April 21 meeting.

Senator Sahil Sud (SFS ’27) will serve as vice chair for the Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), which drafts resolutions. Senator Tina Solki (SFS ’26) will be vice chair for the Finance and Appropriations Committee (FinApp), which allocates club advisory board budgets. Senator Dua Mobin (CAS ’25) was elected vice chair of the Ethics and Oversight Committee (E&O), which enforces the GUSA constitution and bylaws. The vice chairs outlined different concerns for GUSA in the next year and what they think GUSA could improve on.

Sud lauded the Senate for passing resolutions this semester to improve financial and gender equity, highlighting a resolution urging the university to join the Questbridge program, which supports first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students applying to college, and the gender-inclusive housing referendum, which was approved in early April.

“One of the ways that we tried to make sure that Georgetown was a better place last semester was with the Questbridge resolution, making sure that we improved equity on campus and making sure that more students can apply, and also the referendum,” Sud said at the meeting.

Sud added that the university could do more to increase equity on campus by adding more accessibility ramps.

“I think there’s ways that we can make the campus more equitable and make sure people feel safer on campus,” Sud said. “Something that could be improved is accessibility on campus, making sure that there are more wheelchair ramps so that people can get around if they have any other accessibility issues on campus.”

Solki focused on the budget, saying the newly created diversity fund, which will allocate $30,000 to cultural organizations on campus, should focus on non-food events, since the Student Activities Commission (SAC), which oversees a majority of student clubs, allocates funding for food events.

“SAC allocates specific amounts of money for food and for decorations and for equipment,” Solki said at the event. “We have a lot of food-centric events and while I’ve enjoyed my fair share of cultural food all the time on campus, I think having diversity fund specifically be directed towards events that don’t center food but intersect with other cultural aspects, bringing those to campus is a really fantastic way that we can use the money.”

Solki also said the budget guide that the Senate passed earlier this semester, which sets guidelines for how club advisory boards create their budget plans, did not go far enough, calling for additional methods of holding boards accountable. 

“I think the work that was done this past semester was pretty fantastic,” Solki said. “I think establishing a budget guide is the most basic, fundamental thing you need to hold all your advisory boards to account.”

“My main criticism lies in the ability to hold boards to account for what they actually do with their money,” Solki added. “Having the budget guide set expectations, we need some way to actually enforce them.”

Also discussing possibilities for reform, Mobin said the GUSA constitution and bylaws should change with the times to match student values through amendments.

“I think following the constitution and bylaws are definitely important in any organization, but having been in leadership for many clubs, I have realized that there’s many instances where your values or a new situation comes up where you have to modify the constitution in some way, like proposing an amendment,” Mobin said at the meeting.

“So I feel, especially for student-run organizations, that constitutions and bylaws are documentation that are evolving constantly, so that is something to keep in mind if you have any situation that comes up or if your values conflict with the way things are currently documented,” Mobin added.

 In a previous meeting April 14, the Senate certified their April elections and elected Senator Meriam Ahmad (SFS ’26) as Speaker of the Senate and Senator Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26) as vice speaker. Senator Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26) will serve as PAC chair, Senator Daniel Hermonstine (SFS ’26) will serve as FinApp chair and Senator George LeMieux (CAS ’25) will chair E&O.