In the dim light of the Ronj, Bates Student Government (BCSG) and Campus Safety hosted their second Chai Chat of the school year on April 3.

Intended to provide more transparency on BCSG and Campus Safety operations and activities, the Academics, Student Affairs, Facilities, and Athletics committees first presented before moving on to open questions. 

BCSG co-president Dhruv Chandra ‘25 opened by introducing the BCSG committees and intentions for the event. Other committees followed with summaries of their work during the school year and narrating their next steps.

Notably, the Academics Sub Committee presented their work on refining academic requirements, enhancing connections between students, and faculty, and reconfiguring optimization in registration.

Senior Class Representative Mia Brumsted ‘24 highlighted that  the committee’s purpose is to consider “our arc as a school and how we frame our curriculum here.” According to Brumsted, the committee has been working with faculty to decide how to implement the new Race, Power, Privilege, and Colonialism requirement, which was voted on last year.

Other items of concern for BCSG in the last year have included streamlining the process for work orders, providing more information on Title IX resources to students, and creating more events for students, staff, and faculty to connect over.

Campus Safety then presented on its Advisory Committee, which considers student input to understand issues on campus and how Campus Safety can work on community engagement. This year, much of their focus has been on how the Oct. 25 Lewiston shootings showcased both flaws and strengths in Campus Safety, according to Paul Menice, Director of Campus Safety.

Mark Cayer, Day Shift, and Community Engagement Supervisor said that events such as BCSG’s Chai Chat have allowed Campus Safety to better engage with students and the community, informing their work as a whole.