On Wednesday evening in Mills Hall, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) met to discuss a vote on a new constitution. The assembly ultimately decided to push the vote to next week after student attendees voiced concerns about transparency in the public comment portion of the meeting.

The five minutes set aside for public comment at the opening of the meeting grew into thirty minutes as a student questioned the removal of recall in the new constitution, citing concern over the inability of the student body to remove an elected representative. Vice President Elliot Ewell ’27 explained that he planned to add a recall amendment to the new constitution after it is passed.

“I think we were uncomfortable creating that narrative ourselves,” Ewell said. “But not including [a recall] was … something we need to remedy.”

The same student also accused BSG of violating their current constitution by proposing and voting on a new constitution without input from the student body. The individual asked why other students were not involved in the approval process for the new constitution.

“I fully understand your concerns,” Chair of the Student Affairs Committee Harper Stevenson ’27 said. “I just don’t think we could have a document that reflects the way we operate and will serve us better in so many ways if we stuck with the old method of approval.”

After public comment ended, BSG broke into committees to continue to discuss the proposed constitution. The assembly reconvened to give committee updates before holding a vote on whether or not to vote on the new constitution. A vote of closure, which would have the assembly directly vote on the new document, requires the approval of two-thirds of the members present. Of the 25 members present, only 15 voted for closure, two votes shy of the 17 needed, pushing the vote on a new constitution to the next meeting.

Among the committee updates given, the Academic Affairs Committee reported that it had received 750 responses on a survey about increasing access to course syllabi during registration. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee discussed the school-wide email it released on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in education. Ewell also clarified that the free spring break shuttle service offered by BSG to the Portland International Jetport will, due to funding and timing constraints, no longer be offering rides next Saturday but will have 70 spots available on Friday.

Harper Stevenson is a member of the Bowdoin Orient.