Student Government is an important aspect of the Upper School experience at Parker. As the student body is ever-evolving, with new Cabinet and Committee slates each school year, the Constitution has recently followed suit with the passing of three new proposals.
The Constitution acts as a guideline for all Committees, Councils, Cabinet positions, and publications of Student Government. With such a vast jurisdiction, certain Committees’ and Councils’ guidelines have not been updated in several years. In light of this, Upper School students, Parliamentarian Sam Goldblatt, Director of Committee Affairs Graysen Pendry, Student Government President Ella Goodman, and Head of MX Committee Chase Wayland devised a proposal to reorganize all Student Government-associated programs into three distinct categories: Committees, Councils, and Student Government Publications.
The proposal went over the newly defined definitions for each of the categories stated above and described a tweaking of the election process for Publications. Additional key highlights of this proposal included an amendment to the bylaws of the MX Committee, transitioning it to a Council. This proposal was first introduced in Student Government on Thursday, March 6. During this Plenary session, there was a general consensus of support for the proposal from the student body. “I think this is a great step in the right direction of the reforming of our Committee system,” Goodman said. With an overwhelming 97.79% of the student body voting in favor, the proposal passed. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, this proposal will be enacted into the Constitution, with the hope that “Committee meetings will be more productive and Councils are held to a higher standard than they are now,” Goodman said.
Adding to the recent changes in Student Government, a proposal to transition PRIDE from a Student Government Committee to an affinity group was brought forth by Secretary Uriel Castañeda and current PRIDE Committee heads Brady Kass, Dallyce Harrell, Coco De Leon, and Leo Hild. The proposal itself called for the omission of all mention of PRIDE in the constitution, as the goal is to remove all Student Government association. This proposal felt like a natural shift for the student body, “I think it’s unfair for people who don’t identify as LGBTQ+ to be involved in the election process of the PRIDE affinity group,” Hild said. “It’s like if you had white people voting on the BSU heads, that would be a completely weird system. Everyone would call that weird. So I think it’s just equalizing the playing field for all affinity groups.” Originally, PRIDE was established as a committee within Student Government during a time when it was essential to tie LGBTQ+ efforts with the administration to ensure its longevity. However, in the current state of the student body, that is no longer necessary. The PRIDE Committee is not going anywhere, just making a shift to function similarly to all other affinity groups.
The other new proposal is the elimination of the Film Society committee from Student Government. When this Committee was established, it was rare to have the opportunity to screen films, especially in a school environment. However, “we have phones, computers, TVs, and things accessible, and now with all of that, [Film Committee] has become less relevant in Student Government,” Film Committee Head Harper Adler said. With the prevalence of technology in the current standing of Student Government, “the Committee was no longer serving the needs of the student body since the Film Society was originally introduced, so it is necessary to remove and hopefully replace it with a Committee that is more current, soon,” Goodman said. Similar to the PRIDE proposal, the Film Proposal included the removal of all mention of the Film Committee from the Constitution.
The Committee has the option to remain part of the student experience. “Film society can now be a club for people who are interested in films, and they can all participate together. For people who don’t find interest in Film, they don’t have to be forced to participate and don’t have to give up other Student Government opportunities, while being assigned to the committee,” Adler said. The future of Film Society is still up in the air, but with its removal from Student Government, space will be made for new, relevant, and engaging committees. Students who are passionate about film have the opportunity to turn the previous committee into a club, creating a new era for Film Society.
Overall, these three proposals have each contributed something new and unique to the student body, making a change to its previous standing. With the proposals passing, their contents will be put into effect for the 2026-2027 school year.
