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Syracuse University’s Student Association passed a bill during its final meeting of the semester calling on the University Senate to rescind the honorary degree Rudy Giuliani received from the College of Law in 1989.

SA members voiced their frustration that SU has not rescinded the honorary degree after Middlebury College and Drexel University revoked the degrees they gave Giuliani. In previous years, students have expressed their disappointment with Giuliani speaking at the commencement ceremony for the class of 2002 and for receiving the honorary degree.

David Bruen and Darnelle Stinfort, president and vice president of SA, respectively, then gave a summary of what has and has not been done over the course of the semester, and they announced plans for the spring during a “state of the student body” address.

“This being my first year in SA was definitely a new experience for me,” Stinfort said. “It could’ve been better. But overall I am proud of us, especially moving and cultivating the culture.”

Bruen added that acting as a president and leader of a student body is hard work, but he found it very fulfilling. He said he will continue to work to make progress next semester.

“(Leadership) comes with a lot of humility and accountability and a genuine desire to engage and be real advocates at a substantive level. Managing all that is not easy, but then you also have to manage people, personalities and different tasks,” Bruen said. “Some you don’t want to do, some you want to do and some you have to do.”

Following the address, Nyah Jones, the SA comptroller, gave a recap of semester spending for clubs and organizations on campus. SA allocated over $550,000 this semester to various clubs and organizations, and over $1.5 million will rollover as available funds for SA next semester. The majority of the funding came from canceled programs and events from two semesters ago due to the pandemic.

SA passed a bill to pay the president, vice president and comptroller a $2,500 stipend each. SA typically pays a stipend to their executive officers to compensate for the amount of time they put into the organization. But William Treloar, the newly elected speaker of the assembly, said the amount needed to be adjusted, which has not been done in six years.

SA elected a new speaker of the assembly and a speaker pro tempore. Treloar, the previous speaker pro tempore, was elected as speaker of the assembly, succeeding Thomas Simmons. Anna Ginelli replaced Treloar as speaker pro tempore for next semester. Each member expressed enthusiasm and confidence for their upcoming term in office.

In a statement to The Daily Orange, Treloar explained some of his plans going into next semester. One proposal would establish an open request form for legislation, allowing students to go to SA immediately and get responses within days. The goal of the proposal would be to better connect SA to the student body, he said.

“We can connect (SA) with people they need to be talking to, and they can start these processes themselves,” Treloar said. “(Students) can start seeing change on campus that’s coming from their own ideas and the assembly will be here to help them out.”

Ginelli said she plans to sit in on committee meetings next semester to better involve herself in all of them. Ginelli, who previously worked on the diversity, equity and inclusion committee, said she wants to watch what other groups do as well.

Published on December 7, 2021 at 12:48 am

Contact Danis: dwcammet@syr.edu