Residents of Maxcy and Thornwell colleges might not realize how close they came to not getting their traditional hall sweatshirts this semester.
On Monday night, Residence Hall Association senators were not initially impressed by Maxcy-Thornwell senators' requests for $1,200 in shared funding to pay for hall sweatshirts. Ultimately, the senate settled on an amendment that lowered the amount requested to $1,000. Depending on who you ask, such requests may or may not be met with more resistance in the senate in coming months.
RHA President Turner Johnson submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday afternoon, saying he violated the university's credit requirements to hold his position. With Acting RHA President Samuel Payseur now in power, the reaction of senate members as to whether the loss of Johnson will affect future requests for funding has been mixed.
Of the legislation he brought to the floor Monday, senior senator Alberto Palacio of Maxcy-Thornwell said requests to fund hall apparel are not often as heavily discussed as his hall's was.
"It is not that difficult, usually," Palacio said. According to Palacio, the problem was that other senators felt that Maxcy-Thornwell has taken enough funding from the RHA this semester, including $2,400 for a Thanksgiving dinner event that was, in Palacio's opinion, "really successful."
Patterson Hall president McKenzi Norris believes requests like Maxcy-Thornwell's could become a bit more difficult with Johnson gone, as Johnson was open to new requests.
"Using the literal sense, he was more liberal in terms of allowing, encouraging us to do as much as we can," Norris said. "So I just expect them to be a little more strict about it."
But Norris also noted that the changing of power does not guarantee a direct impact on the senate's legislation.
"They can't control what the senate does," Norris said. "But I do expect ... they'll probably give more warnings out, they'll probably say 'hey, we don't think that you should approve this much money right now.'"
Like Palacio, Maxcy-Thornwell junior senator Mateo Pierce-Mosquera felt his hall's Monday request was reasonable given their more modest budget.
"Considering that because we are a smaller residence hall, the amount of money we have left is very little because we receive very little from the university," Pierce-Mosquera said, mentioning that the Maxcy-Thornwell delegation has about $600 left for the semester. Pierce-Mosquera said he and his colleagues hope to use that money for stress-relieving events closer to the end of the fall semester.
But on the effect of Johnson's resignation, Pierce-Mosquera said he isn't worried about any effects on legislation.
"I just think it'll be pretty much business as usual," Pierce-Mosquera said.