SA Meeting Interrupted by Arrest, Regulation of AI Passed

By Mattie Fitzpatrick | October 27, 2025

Senators attended last Wednesday's (10/22) meeting. 

Photo Credit: Jaden Burke | The ASP

Last Wednesday’s (10/22) Student Association Senate meeting was momentarily displaced when an arrest took place in the middle of its duration. University Police arrested a member of the public for criminal trespass in the third degree at the beginning of the meeting, requiring the public and Senators to become briefly relocated in the Campus Center before the meeting was allowed to continue with the conclusion of the arrest. 

The meeting proceeded to continue following the arrest with brief acknowledgment from Senate leadership. In a statement to the ASP, Vice Chair Jonah Martinez said, “The decision to stand at ease during our senate meeting was a rather hastily made decision, but under the circumstances the Chair and I had to act quickly to keep everyone safe.  The person in question was a repeat offender who had violated previous bans from campus.”

The Senate additionally passed a bill “to clarify and regulate the usage of Generative AI (Gen AI) within the Student Association, and to ban the usage of it for official purposes.” 

The bill, which passed with 26 ayes, 2 nays and 7 abstentions, states any legislation where there is a reasonable suspicion of Gen AI usage, must be checked by a verified AI checker. If legislation is found to be used by Gen AI, the legislation is no longer eligible for committee and is considered null and void. 

Additionally, any official barring special exceptions found using Gen AI shall be referred to the Ethics Committee. 

This comes following a conflict earlier this semester in which an applicant for the Board of Finance was rejected for allegedly using AI in their application. AI has been a common point of conversation in the Senate this semester and this legislation addresses those concerns. 

Senator Maceo Foster and Senator Jelani Harris announced that after working with Parking and Transit, a direct line of transportation from campus to the Albany Rensselaer Station would be provided to students during Thanksgiving Break hourly on November 25th, 26th, and November 30th. 

In a joint statement to the ASP, Senator Foster and Senator Harris wrote, “We hope that this shuttle will make traveling home a simpler and less stressful process for UAlbany students living on the Uptown Campus. Should this trial shuttle be successful it is our intention to establish it as a permanent program, offering students a free, direct route to the Amtrak Station during high traffic days at the beginning and end of breaks.”

A number of appropriation bills were brought before the Senate including New and Unfunded requests from Big Sister UA, Ignite at UAlbany, the MCAT Club and Sigma Beta Rho. All requests were passed. 

The UAlbany Coding Club’s New and Unfunded request was tabled until the following meeting and Alpha Phi Omega received an additional $1,000 in sponsorship from the Student Association for their “Halloween Dunk or Treat” event. 

President Trevor Pettit shared that he will be announcing his nominee for the Director of Intercultural Affairs position during next week’s (10/29) meeting.