The The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate confirmed the election of the new GUSA Executive Board and passed three bills Resolving important election campaign issues at its meeting on January 12th.
Ethan Henshaw (CAS '26) And Darius Wagner (CAS '27) were sworn in as GUSA President and Vice President The Senate confirmed 13 students to the Henshaw-Wagner Cabinet. The Senate also passed three bills to increase GUSA's reach by obtaining consent from its students, installing swings on campus, and improving GUSA's structure Finance and Budget Committee (FinApp)who is responsible for allocating the student activity fee.
Senator Amelia Snyder (SOH '28)the sponsor of the outreach bill, said creating a research group that surveys students each semester about GUSA's overall performance and specific policies would make students feel like their opinions matter to GUSA.
“It gives us direct feedback on whether we are actually pursuing activities that the entire population believes are necessary,” Snyder said at the meeting. “It also lets people know that we actually do things and allows them to see in a more direct and accessible way that they actually have a say in what we do.”
The 13 Senate-confirmed Cabinet members will assume positions responsible for domestic affairs. such as chief of staff and treasureras well as focusing on specific portfolios, including Student health and wellbeing as well as facilities, transport and catering.
Senator Tina Solki (MSB, SFS '26) Senators on the FinApp Committee said the FinApp amendment to the statutes would clarify the responsibilities and parameters for FinApp liaisons Oversee a specific area of campus life that receives funding after the Senate removes another position from committee.
“I have set stricter guidelines for what we expect as our liaisons and what we put forward as an initial budget request,” Solki said during the meeting.
The final bill passed by the Senate, if implemented by the university, would deliver the results The promise of the Henshaw-Wagner campaign install a swing set on campus.
In response to Henshaw's promise to discuss the Swings initiative with the university's rector, Senator Keatyn Wede (CAS '27) said she believes the university should be responsible for funding the swings, not GUSA. especially given the increase in tuition fees announced for the 2025-26 school year.
“Since you brought it up in the provost and we’re now talking about tuition, why does that have to come out of our GUSA budget?” Wede said.
Although the bill proposes that GUSA would partially or fully fund the fluctuations, Henshaw said he would work to negotiate funding with the university and direct his administration to reach out to donors.
“I'm told we'll probably get a lot of financial support for this, but there's only so much things the GUSA budget can be spent on, and I think that's going to be fun,” Henshaw told the meeting.
“My treasurer is currently working on creating a donor list to increase the amount of money GUSA raises. So this is ideal,” Henshaw added.
The swing is appreciated The bill is said to cost almost $2,000and according to Henshaw, it will be installed near the koi pond next to White-Gravenor Hall, on the field next to Regents Hall or at a third location, depending on what the university approves.
A bill to encourage the administration to review resulting insurance claims The repeated Flooding in Harbin Hall was removed from the agenda.
The Senate closed the session by previewing future legislation, including a bill it authored Senator Youngsung Sim (SFS '27) that would increase Georgetown University Transportation System (GUTS) service to the Capitol Campus.
The Senate also discussed an initiative led by Senator Sam Lovell (CAS '25) to move them Asian-Pacific (AP) House, an on-campus community space led by the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access (CMEA)a university center that supports communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing education.
Henshaw, His confirmation leaves one Senate seat open in the GUSAHe said he was looking forward to bringing the initiatives approved by the Senate to the university.
“Our weekly provost advisory meeting is coming up and we will be preparing several resolutions to pass and introduce there, mostly the things you all passed,” Henshaw said.