News

Cait Bennett was reelected for Grand Marshal, Colleen Corrigan was elected President of the Union, and Ria Massoni was elected Undergraduate President. Check back here for GM Week Election updates as results roll in.

The personal information of 570 students was inadvertently leaked on Tuesday, March 22, when a spreadsheet containing the information was mistakenly attached to a mass email for the Lee Foundation Scholarship. The spreadsheet contained students in the School of Engineering with GPAs above 2.80 who have Sophomore or Junior credit standing.

Voting for GM week elections closed at 5 pm today. An estimated 1,820 ballots were cast in the election across four polling locations.

On Tuesday, the two candidates for Grand Marshal, Cait Bennett '22 and Nicole Gramenides '23, participated in a debate held by the Elections Commission. Positions for Undergraduate President and President of the Union were uncontested, so both candidates participated in a 30 minute Q&A session. Elections Commission Chairperson Nicholas Longchamp '24 and The Polytechnic News Editor William Hawkins '23 moderated the debate.

Today is election day. Voting will be open from 8 am to 5 pm at Commons Dining Hall, the Union, DCC, CBIS, and the Folsom Library. Additionally, there are no classes today so that students can vote.

The Elections Commission has finalized which candidates will appear on the ballot for tomorrow's election. Voting in GM Week elections is open tomorrow from 8 am to 5 pm. All students, including those graduating in May, are eligible to vote.

For the first time since 2018, the Rensselaer Union will hold an in-person GM Week debate Tuesday in the McNeil room of the Rensselaer Union from 6 to 8 pm.

In an email to the Senate email list Friday night, Grand Marshal Cait Bennett ’22 announced that she is recusing herself as GM until voting in GM Week elections closes.

GM Week begins today with elections on Wednesday. The theme for GM Week is Sweet Week. Associate News Editor Alexander Orr ’25 gives a crash course on what to know and expect for GM Week.

On Thursday, the Executive Board passed a motion to revoke office use for organizations in the Student Government Suite.

Repairs are being made to the Rathskeller’s exhaust system. Thunder Mountain Curry will be experimenting with new menu items. Collar City Grill is now selling cold and pressed sandwiches.

Grand Marshal Cait Bennett ’22 and Undergraduate President candidate Ria Massoni-Nesman ’24 sanctioned by the Elections Commission. Bennett and Massoni-Nesman are now required to get an additional 25 signatures to be on the ballot.

On Thursday, the Executive Board unanimously passed motions to recognize the Bangladesh Student Association and allocate the Rensselaer Student Auto Shop $2000 in additional subsidies for repair tools.

The Union Annual Report committee removed the requirement for the UAR chairperson to also serve as a Senate-Executive Board liaison. By doing so, the UAR committee hopes to remove scheduling conflicts for those interested in the position.

On Thursday, the Union Executive Board passed subsidy reallocations for the Union Show Techs and the Student Senate. A motion to merge the UPAC lights reserve and the UPAC sound reserve was also approved.

The Student Senate’s Elections Committee presented an updated elections handbook. Furthermore, motions to appoint Executive Board members-at-large were passed.

The Executive Board meeting last Thursday was canceled due to a lack of proposals.

The Union Executive Board approved three additional subsidy requests for RPI Flying Club, The Polytechnic, and the Business Operations Committee. The Board also approved a subsidy reallocation request for the Student Senate.

The Union Executive Board moved to recognize Disabled Students at RPI Dream and RPI Breakdance Club as Union-recognized clubs. RPI BASIC was also approved as a Union-affiliated club.

The Student Senate approved appointments for parliamentarian, Hospitality Services Advisory Committee chairperson, and Panhellenic Council chairperson.

With the recent introduction of two-factor authentication, alumni have been restricted from accessing the Student Information System. Alumni inquiries for transcripts must now go through the Registrar or Human Resources.

Due to inclement weather, all classes today will be held online. The COVID-19 testing center will be open today from 10 am - 1 pm. All ‘non-essential’ employees have an additional two hours to arrive at work. All essential employees still need to arrive at their scheduled start times.

Abigail Golden '24 was appointed as the Student Government Communications Committee chairperson for the Senate last Tuesday.

The Undergraduate Council’s meeting with administrators revealed more information about the Trigger Level 1 threshold update, citing the Division of Student Life’s case projections and the availability of on-campus housing due to cases being primarily off-campus, as the primary reasons.