Student Union Senate overturns budget veto, confirms new director of accessibility

The Student Union Senate voted to overturn President Peyton Gillespie’s ’25 veto of the Student Union budget for the 2023-24 academic year at its final meeting of the semester on April 23. The Senate also signed onto a resolution condemning the Brandeis Committee on Strategy and Planning for failing to make the softball field Title IX compliant.

Allocations board co-Chair Elisha Gordon ’25 spoke to the Senate on why the budget which the president vetoed was smaller than in recent years. Gordon said that because of the COVID-19 pandemic clubs stopped hosting events, so they had a surplus of funds which were redistributed last year and last semester. However, Gordon said that the excess has run out and clubs are back to receiving the usual amount of funding.

It was this smaller budget that Gillespie vetoed.

Executive Sen. Eamonn Golden ’24 said that vetoing the Student Union’s proposed budget was unnecessary and a conflict of interest. “Other secured clubs had their budgets cut more than [the] Student Union, and yet the only veto is for [the] Student Union’s budget,” Golden said.

The senate voted by roll call to overturn the veto, with 20 senators voting in favor. Only Sen. Koby Gottlieb ’26 voted not to overturn, and only Senate Rep. to the A-Board Rachel Gao ’25 abstained.

Undergraduate Diversity and Inclusion Officer Rani Balakrishna ’25, who is also on the Brandeis Softball team, presented a resolution to the senate to condemn the Brandeis Committee on Strategy and Planning, of which University President Ron