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DormCon GBM 03 April 2025

Date: 03 April 2025
Location: Baker

note

If you find any issues with the meeting minutes, please email dormcon-secretary@mit.edu

TL;DR (will be created after the meeting)​

  • Exec updates
  • DSL has a gym working group, and every dorm should have a rep
  • Juniper requested $160 for their party, and it passed!
  • Rooftop access - Random and Simmons are at risk of losing access to rooftop and terrace spaces; Baker lacks access; McCormick may lose access during renovation. There was discussion on how to frame conversations with HRS (rooftop access is critical to mental health, finding compromises, etc.)
  • REX - there was a meeting where they tried to find a better balance between Orientation and REX events, but admin was not open to expanding time for REX events. Orientation next year will be extremely long (like, 9:45am-7pm on one of the days) - ways of arguing against this have been largely unsuccessful, but REX chairs from dorms might meet with admin
  • President updates - McCormick extending HoH contract, Baker prepping for piano drop, EC is worried about grass rules during REX (not being allowed to build so that the grass lives), Random and Simmons are worried about roof access

Full minutes​

Exec Updates​

  • Housing Chair (Temkin & Farin)
    • had webinar with parents
      • “the children had questions”
    • met with RCL about REX
      • not willing to budge on blackout times
      • will talk about more (on the agenda)
    • more dormspam concerns
      • Helen wants to be on dormspam
      • she’s now on sponge-talk?
    • undergrad housing info moving to new website
      • link in updates or here
      • goes live on the 16th, give Temkin any ideas by then!!
    • HRS updates
      • Simmons elevators should be ok
      • Next and BC have problems (issues with vendors?)
      • laundry broken across campus (“who’s surprised?”)
      • engagement on intent form slightly lower
      • don’t know the waitlist - people will start coming off late April/early May
      • roof access restrictions - had a convo, that’s on the agenda
    • RCL
      • NOMS is going well
        • norms of mit solitude
      • also had things to say about rooftops, being used as community spaces
      • wanted to have inter-dorm events, budget cuts happening, so we might not be able to get money for field day
      • looking to do a newsletter for events in Boston or on campus
  • Treasurer (Leo)
    • funding proposal is on the agenda
    • dorm tax (Leo will follow up)
  • Dining
    • looking for replacement for Mark
    • first presentation yesterday, guy named Dan
    • trying to figure out student org taxes for Concord Market, hopefully resolved, let them know if not
    • talking to OGC about How Taxes Work (to figure out if the rest of the taxes could go away… maybe some way to do that?)
    • FSAT (food security action team) is meeting Monday at noon
      • they’re responsible for things like IAP Bridge mealplan (money during IAP as TechCash, also responsible for winter break funds, plus 15 swipes each semester)
      • talking to them tomorrow - cool initiative!
      • they haven’t been meeting with them for a while
  • JudComm
    • elections are happening
      • pretty much every position is up for election!
      • people should reach out to DormCon exec members who are here with any questions, need people to run DormCon next year!!
  • CPW
    • all dorms should have received funding notification (email went out ~yesterday, money will be deposited after CPW has concluded, along with $ from admissions)
    • should start hearing back from Admissions if there was an issue with an event (title, description, safety plan)
      • reach out to DormCon CPW chairs if there’s anything they need help with
    • still in need of like 45 hosts, preferably female-identifying
      • “if you’re a woman, or if you know a woman. find your nearest woman.”
  • UC Reps
    • talking to dining chairs about what to do next?
    • brought up a couple of past dining committees that existed, died a long time ago, talked about different dining stuff, doesn’t exist now
    • that kind of org could be useful to brainstorm ideas for this kind of difficult problem?
    • first candidate for interview/presentation talking about affordability
    • Jackson - there was a Tech article interview with Alice (?) incoming UA vice president? - wanted to advocate for new dining hall?
      • Jordan - outside the scope of 1 person in student gov
      • Eugenie - with the state of dining, would be difficult to find the $
      • Jackson - maybe 1 big dining hall to replace all the existing one
      • Jordan - not in the next year
      • Eugenie - whole mission is to support the smaller organizations/businesses
      • Ananda - under discussion for in 10-15 years, it’s too far from east side of campus, not enough space in Stata, etc.
      • Jordan - has been in the ether for a while
      • Ananda - Walker used to be a dining hall O.O who knew?
        • had to-go meals
  • Tech Chair
    • website updated?
  • i3
    • reminding everyone the deadline is in 2.5 weeks, April 22nd, people should start thinking about videos
    • also think about anything people want to update on website
  • Pres/VP
    • Ananda and Jordan are BOTH BACK (!!!!!!)
    • Recruiting for elections
      • Opportunities to shadow meetings if there are DormCon exec positions people are interested in
      • Can talk to anyone on exec about their role
      • Can talk to Jordan and Ananda abt what the different jobs do
      • Please bring people to elections! to run for positions! because otherwise YOU will get bullied into running for positions!!
      • please keep the government alive
    • Field day O.O
      • trying to finalize exactly how that’ll look, talked about it in the last GBM
    • Suzy meeting tmr
      • will be discussing Many Things
      • almost all put on the agenda by DSL, which is new
      • Spring Fun EventTM
        • what is it? we don’t know!
      • talked about lots of other things, largely Concord Market, gave them feedback
      • Jordan went to NOMS (Norms of MIT Solitude)
        • does not mean lunch, means homemade sourdough, Jordan was sad about this 🙁
        • meeting was quite broad, Helen (?) wants to make it a bit more concrete, design active and passive initiatives to make The VillageTM into a community
      • DSL has gym working group
        • they want a gym chair to meet with them (next meeting is next week) - or presidents
        • they’re coming to Maseeh gym?
          • related but not the same?
        • need someone to be on committee
          • dates are 10th and 22nd, 1-2pm
          • will send to dorm prez
        • they just want Any Student At All
        • forwarded to dorms-prez

Budget Request​

  • Requesting funding for Juniper’s spring party
    • Juniper Spring Party
    • very new, founded their freshman year, in 2022
    • trying to put name out there, have traditions, started having semesterly party
    • not a huge La Sala thing, but a smaller thing in the dorm, hoping to have other communities (7 East, other communities in New House), hosted in lounge
    • not as big as other dorms, operate off of house tax, trying to see where to get more funds, hard to build community with just house tax
    • the budget is $300 for the entire party, hoping to get maybe half of that ($150?)
    • Juniper - living community centered around uplifting Black women and nonbinary people, living space for people to be free, be true selves, important cause, hope DormCon funds them!
    • asking for $160 - about half the total budget, anyone from any dorm can go, open to larger community, turn-out hasn’t been crazy (limited to size of kitchen, not that big)
    • have seen uptick in number of people in previous semesters
    • publicization: flyers, Instagram, hoping to get other dorm communities to pub, also dormspamming
    • fits within DormCon’s funding guidelines (event is open to all residents, publicized, within max amount)
    • could also allocate the full amount ($300)?
      • there’s a rule that we’re only allowed to fund 50% of an event
      • “if you want to increase the budget of the party…”
    • voting on proposal as is
    • per-person vote, each dorm votes yes or no
      • Maseeh - yes
      • Next - not here
      • Baker - yes
      • EC - yes
      • Simmons - yes
      • Random - yes
      • New House - yes
      • BC - yes
      • McCormick - yes
      • MacGregor - yes
      • New Vassar - yes
    • passes!!

Student Leadership​

  • Talking briefly about student leadership in the abstract
  • Particularly regarding discretion
    • When you get information from administrators, what are best practices for when you share information, when you choose to get community feedback, when you keep things close to your chest as a student leader
    • Jordan - for me, if something is not super time-sensitive, and I don’t have all the information, and people will have questions that I don’t have the answer too, keep info close to chest till there’s more info
    • when you’re on a committee, say, or having meetings with admin, as part of job as student leader, if big news gets dropped (e.g., in a meeting with HRS, they say they’re going to demolish every dorm), ask the question “can I tell people?”
    • student leaders get info that is not finalized, which is really useful for planning, can think about how dorms would react, how it can be implemented in a good way, if it can’t be shared (not final) - don’t want to share it on the side, where it gets made public, and people start having opinions when it’s not necessarily going to happen
      • can cause panic and chaos, also makes student leaders look bad to admin
    • Geoffrey: “Jordan, you’re a fucking idiot, that’s wrong” /s
      • has learned from Institute committees, if there are issues that can’t be discussed with wider student body, want to get more info about what students would think about a certain thing, would try listening to meeting and figuring out what groups of people already know
      • e.g., if HRS is discussing demolishing all dorms :( - guessing that Jordan and Ananda would know something
      • limiting discussion to groups that would already know
      • “can I share this with my exec? Can I share this with Jordan and Ananda, my two favorite friends that I tell all my secrets to?”
    • Ananda - people in admin think differently about these things, don’t feel like you can’t push back (e.g., if it’s a big deal, and you think people should know)
    • e.g., finding out McCormick is or isn’t getting renovated - people shouldn’t find out till McCormick knows
    • a lot of influence is in soft power, goal is to embed student influence, trying to avoid admin making calls without us
    • important to have good relationships so people tell you things
    • Jordan - best and most frustrating experience is when you talk admin out of a bad idea before anyone knows about it
    • Jackson - if you’re sending out a survey, if you want to make sure you don’t phrase things in a bad way or reveal too much info, run it past people, e.g., survey about Simmons rooftop access
    • Hanu - did something prompt this
      • Jordan - don’t worry about it.
      • no one incident, broader conversation for a variety of reasons

Rooftop Access​

  • Random put this on the agenda
  • Ella - wanted to connect with other dorms who are talking to admin, ask “how’s it going for you guys”
    • claimed to be putting in tap pads this morning and tomorrow
    • don’t think it’s happened yet
    • Random is extremely, extremely opposed
      • the roof is So Nice
    • got respondents from about half the dorm, every single one said it would negatively impact their life
    • meeting with HRS next Monday, trying to persuade them, not clear on how effective this will be
  • Temkin - can talk about when they met with them?
    • happened because of events that happened previously
    • Jed Foundation - anti-suicide group - preventing students from “ideating”, put out new recommendations recently
    • any dorm with rooftop spaces (including grad dorms)
    • were going to just do it without input from students
  • Farin
    • Maybe changing which hours? the restrictions might not go away, they’re really set, but could maybe change the hours
  • Ella
    • they originally said they’d do it over Spring Break (didn’t happen)
    • got email earlier this week saying they’d do construction on Thursday and Friday
    • they’re starting at 7am but it’s ok because none of the loud noises start till 9am :D
    • contacted HoH, going for additional angles (egress?)
    • we’ll see by EOD tomorrow if there are tap pads
    • said they won’t implement limited hours until they talk to us
    • we have lots of people in the community saying this would be bad (there are no other green or outdoor spaces around Random, just Mass Ave and the gas station)
  • Jackson and Eugenie (about Simmons)
    • had initial meeting before Spring Break, also said they’d install them over Spring Break
    • happening this week?
    • didn’t initially say what hours, maybe 12-6am
    • might be willing to be flexible on hours
    • can maybe make it 1am, but probably not later
    • other option… buddy system?
      • two people have to tap
      • “oh, it’s like Among Us”
    • got backlash - people want to be alone and breathe fresh air
    • if you’re awake at 3am and want to go out on the terrace, don’t want to wake up friend
    • trying not to paint HRS as an evil entity - people in Simmons are really upset
    • people are threatening to camp on the terrace/rooftop
  • BC wants roof access so they can take it away?
    • only the football players get roof access (to video practice)
  • Random, Simmons, McCormick penthouse, Baker
  • All communication for Random so far has gone through HoH (they’ve been great)
  • Jordan and Ananda will bring it up in meeting with Suzy
    • students aren’t being communicated with directly
    • Simmons got to meet with David Friedrich and Rich Hilton after someone told HRS to
    • talked to HoHs but not Associate HoH
    • associate HoH might not have roof access either?
    • Jackson - security cameras on the terrace?
      • Random got HRS to promise not to put cameras on the roofdeck
    • HRS is coming at this with the intention to help the community without talking to a single community member
      • so true ella
    • 14/46 responses said it would make mental health issues worse
  • Baker situation (Camila)
    • they have to get a GRA or member of House Team to open it (for events and such)
    • it’s not great - GRAs and House Team are busy
    • used to require Atlas-registered events
  • Random
    • HoH were talking about event scheduling, they hadn’t yet decided how events would be scheduled
    • GRAs and HoH would have tap access all the time
    • event scheduling should be on dorm-by-dorm basis (not Atlas for everyone)
  • Hanu - approach to discussion would have been more reasonable if they’d come to student leaders (e.g., DormCon, etc.) about the guidelines about mental health, these are important, student leaders would agree that this is important, instead of coming at it as a “we’ve already made a discussion”
  • Farin (housing chair) - want to know exactly what each dorm’s game plan is
    • Ella - goal is to bargain
    • Farin - they want to advocate for bringing students in, let students negotiate things like hours
  • Affected dorms welcome to stick around afterwards

REX​

  • meeting with Temkin, Jordan, Anthony, Tasha, Elizabeth Young
    • it went…. [laughter all around]
    • Elizabeth explained plan for Orientation, which they’re not allowed to share, the REX times are after 7pm and before when Orientation starts (11:30am)
    • anytime on Saturday, anytime on Sunday except 3:30-4 or 4:30pm
    • before 11:30am, after 7pm or 6:30pm
    • Tuesday, before 9:45am or after 7pm
    • Wednesday before 10:45 am or after 3pm
    • FYRE form is due before Wednesday
    • also no events after 1am
    • apparently it’s absolutely critical to the health and wellbeing of the children to eat with their orientation groups
    • OLs might pick them up and drag them around
    • Sex Signals and Tech Theater have been merged into Sex Theater
      • it could have been called Tech Signals, but NO
    • Orientation events will be back-to-back and kids will be escorted between them :(
    • one of Cindy Barnhart’s frosh didn’t go to their advising meeting with her because they went to the EC lockpicking event
    • moving Orientation events to Thursday and Friday, Elizabeth Young said this is simply not possible, asked if this could be possible in the future, she said absolutely not
    • can’t move FYRE dates later (2 years ago, asked RACs and they said NO)
    • share this with REX chairs
    • meeting with REX chairs and elizabeth young, so she can hear REX chairs speak
    • hard to schedule meeting with her
    • a belief by elizabeth young is that upperclassmen tell frosh that Orientation sucks and not to go, doesn’t make elizabeth young like REX
    • REX being on Saturday and Sunday is new - most non-FPOP frosh get in sometime on Saturday
    • parent event at 7pm on Sunday (so assumed there will be parents around till then)

President Updates​

  • McCormick
    • had a boba party
    • HoH are trying to extend contract, people from DSL are visiting to talk to residents on whether they like the HoH (they’ve been there for 10 years)
      • they’re reviewing them every 5 years, theoretical max is 10 years, but maybe not actually
  • we must be So Fast
  • Baker
    • had gym! it’s nice!
    • piano ramp almost done
    • need more time on roof
    • HRS and DSL came for HoH contract renewal
  • MacGregor
    • planning their field day
    • had Pi Day stuff
    • nothing major
  • Simmons
    • already gave update with rooftop stuff
  • BC
    • no real updates, i3 video is mural heavy, hopefully that goes ok (legal ones)
    • just very pro mural
    • any dildoes or penises? no!
    • need to blur out the ESA cat if it’s in the wrong areas
    • might do something to the piano
  • EC
    • had EC reopening meeting
      • happens a lot
    • informed they have a schedule for the grass planting - [laughter] - “hold on” - there’s a warranty on the grass, so no one can go on the courtyard for the first 3 months
    • at first this was vague
      • no picnic furniture
      • you can have an adirondack chair for an hour, and then it has to come back off
      • impacts build plans 😭
      • have field A reserved as back-up location
    • arguments
      • will get trampled anyway
      • suggested not planting till after REX is over
      • they’re gonna think about it
      • they’ll repay the cost maybe, depending what it is
      • “people aren’t even in general in favor of grass”
      • trying to get cert of occupancy in july
      • they were taking lead off BC windows after people moved in lol
    • got list of building transfers (very low)
      • 168 open spots
      • about half
      • increasing freshman class to 130
      • “which, I think is fun!!” - Hanu
      • similar to how it was in BC (not half, but like a third), people funnel away as the years progress…
      • list of EC affiliates, there were like 30 people who transferred who weren’t on the list
      • 68 open beds after freshman?
      • people on waitlist maybe end up in EC
  • New
    • had the same head of house since 2002
  • Maseeh
    • first potential trial for corruption in 6 years
      • “we just talked about leadership discretion!!”
      • “it’s exciting! it’s our first trial in years!”
  • New Vassar
    • CPW, social events
  • Random
    • roofdeck