Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened on Wednesday for its final meeting of the 2010-2011 academic year.
BSG dealt with a proposed name change to the "Vice President for Facilities" position. The proposal would change the name to "Vice President for Facilities and Sustainability," reaffirming the College's stance on reducing its environmental footprint.
"It would make sustainability an integral part of the vice president's job," said Vice President for Facilities Isa Abney '11, who submitted the proposal. "It would be expected that the vice president would implement a campus-wide sustainability project either each semester or on an annual basis."
The initiative was supported by members of the Facilities committee, the Sustainable Bowdoin Office and Vice President-elect Chase Taylor '12.
"I realize that the Bowdoin community has placed a large amount of emphasis [on] the importance of sustainability on campus, especially in its push for carbon neutrality by 2020," Taylor said. "I think changing the name of Vice President of Facilities would be a visible and positive change on the part of BSG and will show our commitment to the campus efforts toward sustainability."
After little debate, the BSG approved the measure. However, according to the BSG constitution, any name change is required to be approved by a vote of the general student body. That vote will not occur until next fall. The name change to the vice president's title would not affect either the name or the purpose of the Facilities committee.
The meeting was the last for seven senior BSG members, including BSG President John Connolly. Other members who are graduating include Abney, Vice President for Student Organizations Amanda Nguyen, Treasurer Kyle Dempsey, Class of 2011 Representative Andrew Baer, At-Large Representative Alexander Vertrees and Athletics Representative Anna Noucas.
Following his last report, Connolly thanked all of the members for their work this year and received a loud round of applause. Before adjourning the meeting, Connolly handed over the gavel to next year's president, Derek Brooks '12.