The tenth session of Gallaudet’s Student Congress was held on March 25th, 2026. After the swearing-in of three new senators, the Congress viewed a presentation by Nikki Surber. Surber is the Residence Life Manager and informed students about the housing application process. A large number of Residence Life (RL) staff were also in attendance, and Surber commented that this was to make sure RL had consistent messaging.
Surber began by explaining the qualifications to apply for housing. Students must have zero holds on their accounts, including financial ones. This means students must not owe upwards of three thousand dollars. To find out if you have holds, Surber recommended that students check their Workday accounts. If you do have a hold, Workday will show you how to resolve it and which office you should contact about the matter. Surber explained that after one resolves a hold, the Workday system might not reflect that until 24 hours later. In addition to resolving holds, students must complete all onboarding tasks before applying for housing.
Important dates to remember for housing are as follows: Applications for summer housing open on April 14th, and applications for the 2026-27 school year open on May 1st and close on May 26th. Information on summer housing can be found at http://gallaudet.edu/residence-life-housing/summer-housing/. If you have questions related to housing and the application process, feel free to contact residence.life@gallaudet.edu.
Following the presentation from Surber, the Student Congress heard updates from the Student Body Government (SBG) executive board. SBG President, Trent Mora, and Vice President, Dalina Schwartz, shared that they are continuing to meet with Gallaudet’s administration regarding SBG’s recommendations following the student demonstration against Student Engagement and Life (SEL). In addition to other administrators, they met with Gallaudet’s President, Bobbi Cordano, and Travis Imel and discussed the SEL issue. Mora and Schwartz seemed to agree that the dialogue was positive, but was too “big picture;” they would prefer more immediate action on the issue. The two also met with Tonya Stremlau, the President of Gallaudet’s Faculty Senate, to discuss faculty’s role in student organizations and the recent SEL demonstration.
It’s also apparent that Gallaudet’s SBG is forming a relationship with the Model Secondary School for the Deaf’s (MSSD) student government. Mora and Schwartz met with MSSD’s student government to help them establish bylaws. In addition MSSD’s student government invited SBG Director of Accessibility, Guinevere Head-Allen, to be a guest speaker and present about DeafBlind experiences, accessibility, and culture.
Various SBG directors shared their updates. Director of Student Media, Sabrina Firl, shared that Bison TV staff have now received their pay and are no longer on strike. Director of Events, Ethan Jacobs, shared updates on the upcoming RockFest. RockFest will be on April 11th from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and ticket sales begin the week of March 31st. “Early bird” tickets are 10 dollars, and tickets at the doors will be 20 dollars. The theme for this year’s RockFest is “70’s” and “groovy.”
The judicial branch of SBG shared several updates, most of which related to the upcoming SBG election. There had been delays in establishing a presidential debate, and Student Congress members were asking both the Chief and Associate Justices to explain why. According to the judicial branch, all election activities were frozen due to a complaint being filed. The complaint was that the planned presidential and vice presidential debate conflicted with some organizations’ schedules. The case went to SBG’s Court of Appeals and a decision was made that candidates must be notified a week in advance of a debate. Speaker of the House, Elghin Hebrado, acknowledged that the election committee, of which he is a part, had a part in adding confusion to this year’s election process. Hebrado also commented that the election process would have to be shortened due to the aforementioned delays.
The meeting closed atypically with an announcement from the Codadet organization. Two members of Codadet stood on stage and issued an apology to the Student Congress. The apology was centered on the fact that at previous SBG meetings, Codadet members have spoken without signing. Codadet acknowledged their actions and that they would ensure they would communicate in an accessible manner from here on out. They also commented that they would appreciate it if those who are upset with Codadet approach them directly, so that they can apologize directly to people who feel hurt by their actions. Following this announcement, the Student Congress voted to close the meeting.