The Ithaca College Student Governance Council met Dec. 8 to review a proposal for a new accessibility bill and to hear the Appropriations Committee’s financial report.
The Campus Affairs Committee presented their new accessibility bill that advocates for increased accessibility signage on campus. Junior Eva Horst, vice president of campus affairs, said the committee is working with the Disabled Student Alliance to increase signs that point students towards accessible routes that include elevators and ramps.
Horst then asked the council to give feedback on the bill. Senior Caleb Cackowski, vice president of communications, said a specific spot on campus where this bill can be put into action would be Friends Hall. Cackowski said the building currently has accessible routes that are marked with paper signs and he thinks this legislation should provide examples like this to execute its goal.
“If you have examples of signs that are high contrast or are at heights that are ineffective or somewhere that could need the signage, it could be good to offer those,” Cackowski said. “As of now that is what [the administration] introduced to provide the accessible route, and it’s very ineffective.”
Senior Rishabh Sen, president of the student body, asked Horst how this current initiative ties into her other plans to increase accessibility on campus. Horst said this bill is the first step in addressing five issues of accessibility on campus: mapping and signage, safety, classroom accessibility, intersectionality and improvement of Student Accessibility Services with student relations.
Sophomore Frankie Weisse, School of Health Sciences and Human Performances senator, asked Horst what initiatives are surrounding the relationship between students and SAS. Horst said there is no specific legislation, just a general desire to improve student relations with SAS.
“We have talked about in committee some not ideal interactions with SAS [coming from] students with disabilities,” Horst said. “[We want to] give students with disabilities a space to share concerns.”
Junior Juno Brooks, vice president of business and finance, went over the Appropriations Financial report. Brooks said the committee heard 29 budgets last week and allocated $45,929 which was the committee’s largest amount allocated this year.
Brooks said these funds allocated were for block three which begins Jan. 20 and ends mid-March. The events funded include Black History Month celebrations hosted by the Black Student Union and various Valentine’s Day events.
Sophomore Amelia Grimshaw, former School of Humanities and Sciences senator, was confirmed to her new role as the vice president of residential affairs, after senior Ty Anderson stepped down from the position. First-year student Ari Medvinsky, senator-at-large, volunteered to be confirmed to Grimshaw’s former role.
Medvinsky said his current position as senator has prepared him to move into this new role. Medvinsky said he wants to continue to look at student retention in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Medvinsky said student engagement within the program is important among budget cuts and changes to majors.
“[I want to be] making sure that [there’s] the need for humanities and science to be a strong part of the school and [is] represented well to the administration,” Medvinsky said.
The council then entered an executive session, which is limited to only members of the council, where Medvinsky was confirmed as the School of Humanities and Sciences senator.
During senator reports, Sen said an issue that is pressing for the council to consider is the recent cut of compensation for residential assistants. Sen said the council should think of ideas of how to help support these students. Cackowski said an ad hoc committee addressing the recent cut of RA benefits through gathering student testimony would be appropriate.
“I think there’s a lot of student voices to be heard,” Cackowski said. “If they were on paper and sat right on top of [administrations] desk [then] I feel like it would at least make us feel we did as much as we could to address the issue and represent the student voices.”
The council decided that Stanley Bazile, vice president for student affairs and campus life, would be a priority guest speaker for the Spring 2026 semester.
The council’s next meeting will be held after winter break Jan. 26.
The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC meets from 7-9 p.m. every Monday in the Taughannock Falls room of the Campus Center. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].
