5-07-15 Fall Retreat & Dress Code (2nd Council Meeting)

Thursday's Council meeting, the last one before the summer break, focused on two main topics: Fall Retreat and the Dress Code.

The most prominent point of discussion was the price of Fall Retreat.

Here are the prices for the 2015 Fall Retreat (September 10th-12th) as approved by the Cabinet and Student Development:
$30 for freshmen
$60 for upperclassmen

For the freshmen, the $30 will be included in their tuition, so they'll be indirectly paying for their retreat. For the upperclassmen, they will have to come up with the $60 on their own. This comes as a surprising decision especially since Houses struggle to encourage their upperclassmen to attend. Although people share their awesome experiences about Fall Retreat, upperclassmen especially are reluctant to attend when the retreat itself doesn't change. The SBP stated that since his goal is to allow Houses to become financially self-sufficient, he doesn't want Houses to have to fundraise for Fall Retreat. This is in response to how the previous SBP, Maxine Fileta, handled the retreat fundraising by dividing the $50,000 goal amongst the ten Houses so that each House had to raise $5000. Reese wants Houses to focus their fundraising efforts solely on their own retreats, so he and the Cabinet agreed to raise the cost of tickets rather than ask Houses to fundraise. Members of the Cabinet express their dedication to House-flourishing as their main goal in their decision. The House presidents had no vote on the decision that Megan Phelps delivered.


The next point of discussion involved the Dress Code.

The House of Barton set up 15 minutes of open discussion about the King's "business casual" dress code. Members of the Cabinet jokingly brought up points from previous meetings about what "jeggings" are and whether or not they are appropriate. The Director of Student Organizations stated that Student Life was considering bringing in a fashion consultant to give a presentation on what "business casual" means.

Then, ten Boom asked that instead of trying to determine whether certain articles of clothing were allowed or prohibited, the Council should try to figure out the "spirit" of the dress code. The SBP pointed out that one big problem with the dress code is its "ambiguity." Barton stated that the dress code exists because it is "respectful" to the faculty and an "equalizing" factor for students to put everyone on the same agenda. QE1 brought up the fact that the problem is an institutional one because the dress code is "not really enforced". The SBP brought up conversations he's had with faculty and staff, and he said, "students believe it's the professor's responsibility to mark students absent for violating the dress code, but faculty think it's the students who should call each other out for violating the dress code." ten Boom then asked whether dress code confrontations are to be handled the same way as Honor Code violations. Reagan argued that dress code enforcement should stay within the Houses, and that House leaders should set the example when it comes to the dress code.

After this talk, the Director of Student Events initiated the formation of a dress code committee to write out a clear definition to present to Student Development. The committee will consist of the Dir. of Student Events, and the presidents of Lewis, Reagan, and ten Boom.

After this approval, the meeting then ended.


Have opinions or concerns? Voice them in the comments section below.

First Council Meeting under SBP Reese - 4/22/15

Each year, the Annual Meeting serves as the official Council meeting where the old Council leaves and the new Council steps in. This year, the new Student Body President, Reese Evans, formally motioned to appoint his new Cabinet, which included the new position, the Director of Spiritual Life.

Here's the new Cabinet:
SBP: Reese Evans

Director of Student Events: Mary Losiak
Dir. of Student Organizations: Annalise Bourgeois
Dir. of Finance: Tim Stratton
Dir. of Communications: Taylor Thompson
Dir. of Spiritual Life: Spencer Kashmanian

After the formal election of the Cabinet, each of the old House presidents and Cabinet members prayed over their successors. Many of them prayed that their successors gain "wisdom and clarity" for their new roles. Former-Barton president, Cooper Crouch, prayed that the new Barton president, Audrey Walczak, maintain the "sass that Bartons have" as she leads her House. After these prayers finished, members of the old and new Council prayed over Kashmanian and his new role as the first ever Dir. of Spiritual Life. Then, Maxine Fileta prayed over Reese Evans. After that, all members of the new Council were sworn in by the Council Oath, and the old Council departed to let the new Council begin their meeting. 

Evans began the meeting by giving his Inaugural Address, where he stated his two major goals for next year: get Houses more in tune with their alumni, and set the Houses on track to become financially self-sufficient. He pointed that the specifics for those goals will be organized in the summer. Evans also initiated the motion to vote on the two House presidents who would comprise the Budget Committee. Four Houses (Lewis, Barton, tenBoom, Truth) volunteered, and initially Lewis moved to have himself and tenBoom as the two presidents. Churchill amended the motion to have Lewis and Barton as the two, and eventually the motion passed. The 4-person Budget Committee now consists of the SBP, the Dir. of Finance, and the presidents of Barton & Lewis.

Spencer Kashmanian gave his first report as Dir. of Spiritual Life, where he explained his vision for the role. He hopes that the role will serve as a working liaison between the Council and the Spiritual Life Committee. He hopes to help Houses create and train associates concerned with the planning and structure of respective House Bible Studies, and he would like to see the organizing of more Theological Roundtables at King's. Evans stated that the Dir. of Spiritual Life reminds the Council that "(they) are here to serve."

The meeting then adjourned. The next Council meeting will occur on Thursday, May 7th at 12pm in the Founder's Room.


Notice: For the purpose of this blog, I will refer to House presidents and Cabinet members (excluding the SBP) by their House or position name. Above I listed the Cabinet members, so here I list the House presidents:
Anthony: Chelsea Owens
Barton: Audrey Walczak
Bonhoeffer: Jacob Wilson
Churchill: Scott Bryan
Elizabeth: Leah Contreras
Lewis: Fisher Derdarian
Reagan: Patrick Thomas
Thatcher: Helen Healey
tenBoom: Jessie Schnoebelen
Truth: Alex Nykamp

Introduction

Hello fellow TKC students,

My name is Fermin Villalpando and I am here to report on the actions and sayings of the 2015-16 TKC Council. 

Tonight, at 5:30pm in the Founder's Room, is the Annual Meeting where the current Council (headed by SBP Maxine Fileta) steps down and inaugurates the newly elected Council (led by SBP-elect Reese Evans). Tonight begins a new year of debate and decision-making by the highest form of student government here at The King's College. 

I am here to make sure that you as a student hear not just who is voting Yay and Nay on certain key issues, but what each of the House presidents and Cabinet members have to say concerning the issues. Whether you voted your House president in or voted for his/her opponent, you have the right to know how he or she is representing your House to rest of the Council. 

My main objective is not to criticize those on the Council, but rather it is to ensure that students know how their student government is working for them. What I hope this blog will do is encourage people to become more actively involved with their Houses and with the school to ensure that they have an active voice on campus. Ideally, I'd like to see higher attendance from students at the Council meetings (which is every student's right as stated in Article 7, Section 3 of the Council Constitution), but that change will come slowly but surely. 

I hope that you can see why caring for your student government matters as much as I think it matters. 

Thank you, and I hope to see some of you at tonight's meeting.