The ninth session of Gallaudet’s Student Congress was held on March 4, 2026. The session began with the swearing in of a new Associate Justice, as well as a senator for Class of ‘29. The Congress then turned its attention to updates from the Executive Branch of the Student Body Government (SBG).
Trent Mora, the current SBG President, provided information about some ongoing projects. SBG is continuing to work on buying a new speaker system for on-campus organization use. The hope is that the new system will be easy for clubs to use, set up, and take down. Another ongoing effort by SBG is moving their office in order to become more “visible” and attract attention to the upcoming SBG election. That relocation has been delayed to May. Mora also shared that some SBG members met with Congress’s Deaf Caucus and felt it was a great experience; he hopes SBG will get the chance to meet with the caucus again.
Both Mora and Dalina Schwartz, SBG’s Vice President, presented about ongoing negotiations regarding the student complaints against Student Engagement and Leadership (SEL). Mora mentioned that SBG had a meeting with SEL in which they agreed to establish a shared budget. This budget will be managed by SBG and SEL; the funds contained within will be only used for student organizations. It seems that this budget is still in the works, as is SBG’s documentation of student complaints against SEL. Schwartz commented that SBG is continuing to collect students’ experiences. Documentation was emphasized as an important part in SBG’s process to encourage action from Gallaudet’s administration. SBG’s Director of Student Affairs said that SBG has a 57-page report that includes demands, student experiences, and data, some of which was gathered from student survey information; this will be presented to Travis Imel, Gallaudet’s Chief Student Affairs Officer.
Several other students from the Executive Branch then presented to the Student Congress. Sabrina Firl, Director of Student Media, shared that Bison TV is on strike for lack of pay. SBG’s Director of Finance, Evan Stromberg, then elaborated on the strike. He said that Bison TV staff will be paid as soon as they sign their wage letters, and the same goes for Tower Clock. Stromberg also said that Tower Clock staff will be paid a quarter of their fall semester salary; however, the three-quarters loss will be added to their pay for the current semester. Another ongoing project is that SBG’s Director of Student Affairs is preparing to present a proposal to Gallaudet’s VEE committee. Her hope is to align her proposal with the existing goals of the VEE committee. It will be interesting to see what changes to the VEE programming following this proposal.
SBG’s Director of Events, Ethan Jacobs, shared plans for several upcoming events. On March 27, there will be a “Bobbi Doppelganger Day” where students will dress up like Gallaudet’s President. In a recent Instagram post, SBG announced that the lookalike competition will be held in the Andrew Foster Auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m. There are cash prizes for the students who best emulate Bobbi, and the first place winner will receive $1,000. MuralFest will be held from March 30 to April 3. Students are encouraged to help in painting two new murals on campus. The murals were selected through a recent student vote. The last upcoming event Jacobs presented about was RockFest on April 11 and 12. This event invites students from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to travel to Gallaudet. Mora came back on stage to clarify that this event is not an official collaboration with RIT and, in fact, RIT has refused to share any promotional materials for the event, saying it is a “liability.” Nevertheless, Mora was hopeful that RIT students would attend and make the event a success.
The session concluded with announcements from student organizations. The Black Student Union shared that they are hosting an event at Throw Social DC, called “Sneakerball 2026.” The event will be on April 3rd and attendees are encouraged to wear their best sneakers. Tickets are $50, and one ticket is meant for two people, meaning you must attend in pairs. If this interests you, consider purchasing your tickets.