The General Assembly meeting on Oct. 29 focused primarily on debating and passing a new amendment to the Student Government Rules and Procedures. The proposed amendment implements a nomination system through which students may nominate their peers for the position of First-Year Class Representative in future election.

The amendment was proposed in an attempt to address the lack of candidates for the position from certain demographic groups, namely female candidates.

“People who run are highly stacked toward one demographic … female candidates just aren’t running … The nomination process will give people the courage and push to run,” said Kelly Murphy, Class of 2018 and Student Government President.

Carlos Riofrio, Class of 2021 Representative, also spoke in favor of the amendment, appealing to the social insecurity that first-year students usually experience and how a nomination process might help address this anxiety.

Riofrio proposed an additional amendment that consisted of adding the word “privacy” after Elections Commission, to ensure that nominated students are not pressured to run because of a public announcement.

Dmitry Dobrovolskiy, Class of 2018 Representative, argued against Riofrio’s amendment, finding that it was better to leave the wording open-ended so future Election Commissions had flexibility in interpreting the amendment.

The amendment to the amendment was passed with eight votes in favor, zero against and two abstaining. The amendment itself was passed with 10 votes in favor, zero against and zero abstaining. During New Business, Nela Noll, Class of 2019 and Chair of the Campus Life Policy Committee, mentioned that the student express line at the East Dining Hall is continuously being used by non-students, slowing down the line. However, none of the members of the Dining Hall Committee were present to address the concern. Noll said she would reach out to them personally.