Gianna Hayes
News Editor
Scot Council convened in the Alley on Monday night for their general assembly (GA) meeting. GA meetings are open to the public and occur every Monday night from 7-8 p.m. in the Alley, unless otherwise specified.
Before the opening discussion, Scot Council President Flynn Cowie ’26 shared how the applications for elected positions are going. He welcomed new attendees, introduced the executive board and had candidates informally introduce themselves.
During the opening discussion, Salem Amato ’27 brought up concerns over the budget for The Wooster Voice. This was discussed in more detail during committee updates.
In committee updates, the budget committee shared that they had reviewed the appeals process that allows student organizations to request more funds. They are hoping to meet with the Voice before fall break to settle concerns about printing.
The conduct committee submitted ads for the POT and posted on their Instagram QR codes that lead to the Scot’s Key. They also brought up concerns over the accessibility of the Scot’s Key, as a Wooster email address is needed to access it — this affects their plans to provide a link to the Scot’s Key in their Instagram bio. They are currently experimenting with other ways to readily provide the information contained within the Scot’s Key. Some students raised questions over whether the Scot’s Key is a confidential document, which remained unanswered.
The constitution committee finished onboarding new members and started reviewing Pep Band’s constitution for approval.
The outreach committee raised similar concerns regarding the accessibility of the Scot’s Key, and proposed posting ‘getting to know me’ posts for the Scot’s Key. They also emphasized their goals, which are to spread awareness about Scot Council and to not spread misinformation.
The social justice and equity committee is planning to host Cookies for Concern sometime after fall break. They also shared that they are looking into student concerns surrounding the Wellness Center, such as the lack of nonlatex condoms, no more full-time counselors, reduced hours, the lack of COVID tests and masks and some students’ concerns with specific Wellness Center staff. They also discussed concerns around inconsistent availability of menstrual products on campus.
A nonvoting member also raised concerns about the accessibility of Scot Council GA meetings, and there was a discussion on ways to improve non-voting member turnout. Some students echoed that sentiment, saying that Scot Council is uninteresting to the general student body. Members brainstormed ideas to improve engagement and visibility of Scot Council, such as having more meet-and-greet or casual GA meetings. Other students mentioned the possibility of collaborating with other student groups, such as the Wooster Democrats or the Voting Engagement Interns.
The liaison committee encouraged nonvoting members to attend committee meetings. They also raised concerns about the seating on the second floor of Lowry and are looking into submitting a work order or speaking with facilities to address cleanliness issues.
The executive committee provided updates on the Scot Council elections. Ballots will be going out on September 29 and will be available through October 3. They also discussed the possibility of extending the deadline for applications or setting up secondary elections to fill more positions that had fewer applications.
The constituency representatives did not have time to share updates, but will have the opportunity to share updates first at the next GA meeting. Cowie motioned to go into executive session, which is open only to elected Scot Council members.
