StuCo Passes New Proposals, Dean’s Council Established

Student Council had a fruitful meeting on Tuesday, creating a “Dean’s Council” made up of student leaders and deciding to contract food trucks to come to Exeter each Friday night, starting in the spring.

The Dean’s Council will consist of 15 student leaders, who will meet with the deans on a weekly basis. The establishment of the Dean’s Council will provide an outlet for students to express their concerns through representative student leaders and will help improve communications between deans and students. The fifteen students will be appointed by the President of the Student Council and will be comprised of team captains, major club co-heads and other strong leaders. The Vice President of the Student Council will serve as the Voting Chairman of the council, calling the council to order, leading the debate and adjourning the council. During these meetings, the Secretary of the Student Council will take notes and later report these notes to the Student Council.

“Things are looking good right now. I’ll be meeting with Ms. Lembo on Wednesday just to run over some things, and this should be in effect by spring term.”

According to Student Council members, the formation of the council will aid in the deans’ search for a more clearly defined and direct means of communication with the student body, a need that has been exacerbated by the recent uncovering of incidents of sexual misconduct at Exeter. Student Council Secretary and upper Jackson Parrell explained why the deans may have chosen to approach Student Council with their proposal. “I think that it has been a problem for a long time but now the deans realize more so that they need that root of communication so that when they make changes, like the drastic changes they made over summer, they know what’s working and what isn’t,” he said.

Exeter has already begun inviting food trucks from local diners and restaurants to set up in the area that leads off from Front St. towards Peabody Hall every Friday from 8 p.m.-9 p.m.. According to Parrell, these times were chosen to ensure that students still eat at Exeter’s dining halls on Friday nights, in addition to buying food from the trucks. During the allotted time period, a representative of the Student Council Recreation Committee will oversee the food trucks.At the same meeting, Student Council addressed continuously expressed complaints by students about the food served at the Dining Hall and its repetitiveness. As a solution, the Executive Board of Student Council established a food truck program designed to bring alternative meals to campus on Friday evenings.

All logistic interactions with the vendors will be handled by the Office of Student Activities and all contractual agreements will be dealt with through both the office and Director of Student Activities Joanne Lembo. According to Parrell, planning for the execution of the proposal is going smoothly and should be finished relatively soon. “Things are looking good right now,” he said. “I’ll be meeting with Ms. Lembo on Wednesday just to run over some things, and this should be in effect by spring term.”

Though some students raised concerns about the availability of vegan and vegetarian food options, Parrell emphasized that plenty of the vendors have vegan and vegetarian options to accommodate for the needs of all students. Student Council will reach out to local restaurants and diners such as Lexie’s Test Kitchen, The Happy Taco, Clyde’s Cupcakes and The Endless Slider, as well as other Exeter and Boston-based eateries.

Student Council hopes that the proposal will improve general morale on campus and foster a closer atmosphere within the student body while providing a larger variety of dining options. As of now, three vendors have signed up to participate in the program and will not demand any additional fees from the school. Exeter students can expect the first food truck evening to occur on the Friday back from spring break.

The budget committee also approved funding for two initiatives: the new Canadian Culture Club and Tuesday’s Evening Prayer, which was held by the Democracy of Sound.