Despite a lighthearted mood and after singing “Strangers Like Me,” the senate got down to business. They heard two proposals requesting holiday event funding, denied a proposal requesting money for the Coalition for Social Action and passed a proposal from Hart Hall’s Haven floor who annually hosts Deck the Haven.

• Junior Giovani Prayitno, International Student Association chair, requested $300 for their Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Collegium. Funding would go toward traditional Thanksgiving food and drinks that would feed about 60 people. Prayitno said international students often stay on campus during the break and are not always afforded the opportunity to experience a traditional, homestyle Thanksgiving feast.
• Juniors Dani Decena and Tim Engle, Horton Hall senators, proposed for $375 for their annual Christmas all-hall, which will have the theme, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The proposed funds will only go toward refreshments for 500 people, and the remaining costs for the all hall will be covered by the ResLife budget.
• After much thoughtful discussion and a narrow voting margin, senators denied a proposal requesting $842 for two students from CSA to attend the Dec. 2-4 Conference on Universality in Human Rights in Washington, D.C. The majority of the requested money would go toward airfare. Senators, who said resident feedback was mixed, grappled with whether or not passing the proposal was a good use of student money. Junior Christopher Yim, Emerson senator, said raising the funds should not be difficult, as he was able to raise over $4,000 when his roommate needed money to remain at Biola.“You can raise the money for [going to the conference],” Yim said. “If you just tell people where you want to go and your passion for it, people will give, so I feel AS money could be used somewhere else than this conference.”
• Senators unanimously passed a proposal from Hart Hall’s Haven floor requesting $693.97 for their annual Deck The Haven event, which is taking place on Dec. 9 and open to all students to come and enjoy. Engle said he felt positive about Haven’s outreach tradition, as even many upper campus residents have attended the event in years past.