Bryn Mawr College SGA Meeting – November 15, 2015
Roll Call
Announcements
Your Two Cents
Discussion of Community Guidelines
Discussion of Recent Events Concerning Posters
Vote on Seven Sisters
Old Business
New Business
Roll Call
Present: Samantha Heyrich, Delaney Williams, Chanel Williams, Coco Wang, Charlette Williams, Bridget Murray, Ana Llamas, Ann Tran, Khadijah Seay, Connie Lam, Delia Landers, Hannah Chinn, Nora Dell, Melanie Bahti, Sedi Agawu, Mara Dominguez, Sneha Soni, Rhea Manglani, Alexis Wiltsire, Tosin Ajiboye, Kyra Sagal, Shakari Badgett, Dijia Chen, JoyAngelica Chan, Rina Patel, Maria Minaya, Miranda Smith, Elizabeth Lorenzana, Jasmine Rangel, Celeste Ledesma, Lillian Oyen-Ustad, Nikitha Shakamuri, Lilly King, Lindsey Foster, Modupe Olufemi, Stephanie Montalvan, Casiana Omick, Tyler Brown-Cross, Emily Gifford-Smith, Erin Saladin, Olivia Hollinger, Radhika Singh, Rachel Ofili, Emily Siegel.
Absent: Madison Wilson, Natalie DiFrank, Diamond Ray, Elaine Holehan, Oona Ryle, Veda Nambi, Emma Basen-Engquist, Danielle Cadet, Eve Cantler, Sarah Andrew.
Charlie Bruce ‘16 called the meeting to order at 7:10pm
Charlie Bruce ’16: Hey everyone let’s begin with roll call!
Roll Call
Angela Motte ’17: Hello everyone! As a reminder, I record these meetings, so keep that in mind when you speak.
Present: Samantha Heyrich, Delaney Williams, Chanel Williams, Coco Wang, Charlette Williams, Bridget Murray, Ana Llamas, Ann Tran, Khadijah Seay, Connie Lam, Delia Landers, Hannah Chinn, Nora Dell, Melanie Bahti, Sedi Agawu, Mara Dominguez, Sneha Soni, Rhea Manglani, Alexis Wiltsire, Tosin Ajiboye, Kyra Sagal, Shakari Badgett, Dijia Chen, JoyAngelica Chan, Rina Patel, Maria Minaya, Miranda Smith, Elizabeth Lorenzana, Jasmine Rangel, Celeste Ledesma, Lillian Oyen-Ustad, Nikitha Shakamuri, Lilly King, Lindsey Foster, Modupe Olufemi, Stephanie Montalvan, Casiana Omick, Tyler Brown-Cross, Emily Gifford-Smith, Erin Saladin, Olivia Hollinger, Radhika Singh, Rachel Ofili, Emily Siegel.
Absent: Madison Wilson, Natalie DiFrank, Diamond Ray, Elaine Holehan, Oona Ryle, Veda Nambi, Emma Basen-Engquist, Danielle Cadet, Eve Cantler, Sarah Andrew.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Thanks! We’re going to move on to announcements. During this item, any new items for discussion, questions, or announcements can be made. We have allotted ten minutes for this agenda item.
Announcements
Joy Chan ’17: We are holding Emergency Elections for COPS Heads and Elections Heads. The dates are as follows: Nominations – 11/8 – 11/16, Info Sessions – 11/16 11-12, 11/17 3-4 Taylor C, Candidates Forum – 11/19 6-7 in the Campus Center Main Lounge, Elections Begin – 11/23-11/24. Thank you.
Gabrielle Smith ’17: The November appointments round is coming up! Please go to the appointments blog, appointments.blogs.brynmawr.edu for committee descriptions, and for general information about the appointments process. Email me at gbsmith if you have any questions!
Emily Gifford-Smith ’16: The screening of the You Can Play video is tomorrow from 7-8:30pm in the campus center. There will be snacks! Also, upcoming Home Sporting Events are Basketball Saturday at 1pm vs. Nazareth College, and Swimming Saturday at 1pm vs. Washington College. Update on Owls Fight for a Cure: Each season each of the in-season teams host “Pink Games” – fundraising events from which all the proceeds are donated to the Bryn Mawr Hospital. During the fall Pink Week, we raised close to $500. On December 2nd, the Swim team will be hosting their annual relay in which students, alums, faculty and staff all participate in order to continue raising money for the cause. Come down and watch the meet! Thank you for all of your support for and donations to the cause! We really appreciate it!
Joy Chan ’17: Come out and support the fall student dance concert this Saturday at Marshall auditorium at Haverford at 8pm! It’s free, and we will have food and drinks.
Erin Saladin ’16: In my capacity as the SGA representative to the Information Stewardship Council, everyone should be getting emails from Andrew Mantuano about the Securing the Human Moodle course, and in the interest of continuing the community learning process surrounding information security, we want to encourage everyone to take a look at that course.
Jasmine Rangel ’17: We just wanted to remind everyone that our hot topic is right after this meeting. It will discuss events of WTF week. We will talk about it in small groups, as to activities on Thursday. We will have one next week to discuss Friday events. We want everyone to come out because this way you will be heard. Some people feel like the week was used to welcome you home, and we want to get input from the community on how to see how we can make everyone feel welcome.
Martely Carrera ’18: Hey! Zami is having a fashion show on the 19th. It’s going to be awesome. There will be food, drinks, and snacks! Come and enjoy the music and the beautiful outfits that we will be seeing on our models. If you are interested in being a model contact anyone from the EBoard. Can’t wait to see everyone there!
Miranda Smith ’18: Inviting students to participate in the Sociology department faculty search! Three guest lecturers coming in this week, Piper Coutinho-Sledge, Monday 11/16, Dalton 300, 4:15PM, work in gender identity and access to medical care; Kjerstin Gruys, Thursday 11/19, Dalton 119, 4:15, work in gender, race and body positivity; Gowri Vijayakumar, Monday 11/23, Dalton 119, 4:15, work in gender, sexuality, sex work transnational identities, HIV/AIDS. Snacks to be served.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Any more announcements? Ok next item! Your Two Cents! Anyone in the BMC undergrad community can host a straw poll or bring up a topic for discussion.
Your Two Cents
Coco Wang ’16: Hi everyone!
Chanel Williams ’16: We are interested in your opinions related to changing the “Garden Party Girl” name. Please raise your hand if you interested changing the “Garden Party Girl” name to something that reflects a more inclusive gender identity. Yes, no, abstain. Thank you!
Charlie Bruce ’16: I have something. One of the Members-At-Large break out discussions criticized the layout of the space because it felt too exclusionary. I talked to Lisa, and we thought we would give this layout a try. I see that we’re running into similar problems. I would like to do a fist to five vote- fist meaning ‘I hate this, we need to get away with it’, and a five meaning ‘I love this, we should keep it forever.’ Everything in between gives you the ability to show the severity of how much you feel towards one option. Ready, let me see. Thanks. I’ll revert it to what it was last week. I’m open to other ideas, so please email me! On to our next agenda item.
Community Guidelines
Charlie Bruce ’16: Roberts Rules of Order isn’t very accessible. It’s used to make the meetings go smoothly, but it’s not a part of our common language. When, it’s used, it can make people feel isolated. We’re going to set up community guidelines, like ways to participate in the conversation that are easier to understand. Do we have any ideas?
Erin Saladin ’16: Identifying yourself when you speak so everyone knows who you are.
Casiana Omick ’18: Don’t talk over anyone.
Shakari Badgett ’17: Use ‘I’ statements.
Miranda Smith ’16: Trust intent.
Ann Tran ’18: Can you elaborate?
Miranda Smith ’16: We come to this space under the assumption that everyone here is here with the intention to talk toward resolutions. You ask for clarification, but you trust that they came with intent to be productive.
Charlie Bruce ’16: I’m going to throw one in- the 48-hour rule. So, that means, when someone says ’48 hours’, you’re acknowledging that you want to keep talking about this, but you want time to process how you feel. Any more? Let’s move on to the next agenda item.
Discussion of Recent Events Concerning Posters
Charlie Bruce ’16: In this past week, some posters were hung on campus with images or text, or both, with a slogan ‘Over policed, under protected, Bryn Mawr College Edition.’ They generated dialogue in relation to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, and larger campus discussion on racism. Anonymous commentators on Yik Yak posted some very hurtful and racist things. It generated a lot of discussion on the social media sphere, and I think that a lot of people have had a different way to process things. I want people to split off into small groups, and discuss with it means on campus, what it means about race in America, and other issues. This is a new thing I want to do, so I want this to be a processing space. I don’t intend for you to report back to the group, but to have a conversation with them about what happened. I recognize that this was a pretty intense week, so if you feel like you can’t or don’t want to participate, that’s totally legitimate.
Khadijah Seay ’16: Why won’t we be taking minutes?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Since everyone is having their own conversation, it wouldn’t be possible for Angela to record every conversation.
Khadijah Seay’ 16: Can I suggest that people come back together as a group? I think that it’s vital to have documentation of our community discussions for memory. I want to note that last year when the confederate flag talk happened, that was off the record, and I want us to reflect on the precedence that that set.
Charlie Bruce ’16: I want to come back and have a conversation with you about that. I think that when that was taken off the record, it was in order so people could feel comfortable talking in that space.
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: This will not be held on record because you’re making people comfortable correct?
Charlie Bruce ’16: I don’t want people to feel comfortable- as in using this as an opportunity to not engage, or not learn something, but to come into this space, to have a conversation. In small groups, we-
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: Why are you asking to have this discussion in small groups, when it’s not really a small group issue?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Let’s have a large group conversation.
Hannah Chinn ’19: I appreciate that you’re trying to make this a safe space- could we have small group discussions, and then a larger report back?
Charlie Bruce ’16: I don’t think that any space can ever be ‘safe’, but we can make a space brave. This means that you can come into an event and voice your concerns where you hope that others will hear you out and listen. I’m hearing a couple of different suggestions on how best to facilitate this conversation.
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: Again, are you asking to hold a vote on how we are going to facilitate this conversation?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Yes, for the entire room. First option, small group conversations. Second option, large group conversation. Third, small group with large group come back.
Erin Saladin ’16: Point of clarification, how are minutes playing into these options?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Large group will be done by Angela, because then she can hear everyone speak.
Nolan Julien ‘18: I was just wondering how we were going to go about setting up this space in whatever format we chose- how are we going to make it a safe space for anyone who is confused or who is unaware of what’s happening? Are we going to have one formal introduction?
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: Are you going to explain what’s happening, and why people are uncomfortable? Are you going to give an introduction to validate those experiences?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Originally I had planned for a particular person to come in as a facilitator, and then we would break into small group discussion based on communication, action, history, and steps moving forward. Unfortunately that plan feel through last minute, and I picked this haphazard style because I wanted to devote agenda space to it, but didn’t know how.
Olivia Porte ’18: Who is that person?
Charlie Bruce ’16: It was a student.
Olivia Porte ’18: Knowing that you couldn’t bring in a facilitator, why didn’t you push it back, and we as a community could talk about it as a collective because we as a community are a collective?
Charlie Bruce ’16: It was after the agenda had been sent out, and I didn’t want to be like, ‘Ok, we were going to have this conversation, but now we’re pushing it back’, because I think this is very important to talk about.
Sofi Chavez ’17: I was wondering if, because people have a lot of things to say, maybe one person from the EBoard could be passed the microphone to give an introduction, because time is important.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Thank you for the suggestion. I saw some other hands.
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: Have we come to the consensus that this deserves to be a group discussion?
Rachel Bruce ’18: How much allotted time do we have?
Charlie Bruce ’16: I didn’t say at the beginning, but it was allotted 30 minutes.
Angela Motte ’17: Also, you can make a motion to extend time. So let’s say we run out of time, someone would make a motion to extend time, someone would second it, we would vote on it, and we’d get more time to talk.
Chanel Williams ’16: Is that only Rep Council who can vote?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Yes. So back to Nyasa’s question, and the important point Olivia raised, this conversation should be prefaced by a formal introduction that explains the situation. And so, I think we need to make a vote to have this conversation right now, or next week when we have a better format.
Olivia Porte ’18: That wasn’t my question- I’m curious why you didn’t ask another student leader? If it would be ok, we could preface the conversation with that, and then extend the time, and then give it the space on the minutes.
Danielle Roomes ’17: How are we thinking about someone explaining the context of the situation, and will it be on the minutes?
Charlie Bruce ’16: It will be self-nomination, and yes. I want to recognize how poorly organized this was on my part, and yes I would love to have a student who is more prepared to preface this conversation that I am.
Delaney Williams ’17: Would we want to table this so someone would have more time to prepare themselves- wait, never mind.
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: Will this be on the minutes?
Charlie Bruce ’16: Yes.
Angela Motte ’17: I just want to ask everyone to speak clearly and slowly because I really want to be able to get every thing written down verbatim. Thank you!
Danielle Roomes ’17: Hi everyone, I’m the NAACP president. Quick context- earlier this week, students posted posters that criticized PSAFE and their over policing of Students of Color on this campus, and their racial profiling. That was what the posters were about, although they were interpreted in very different ways. On the anonymous social forum, Yik Yak, undergraduates of this college criticized in very racist and offensive ways the posters, and Students of Color, specifically Black students, on campus. To combat this, Students of Color set up places for discussion on Yik Yak, which no one took advantage of. It’s hard because for me, like I just got my lantern, I just transferred here, I was told I don’t belong here, that none of my concerns are real, and that I should feel privileged enough to not voice my thoughts. Another group, on Thursday morning, went to campus safety, in their office. The space was occupied, and allowed a conversation to be held between KCass, Stephanie Nixon, Dean Balthazar, and PSAFE officers. In this conversation, Students of Color could voice their experiences, and talk about the unfair treatment, and personal narratives could be shared. But then it was met with the admin patting us on the back, thanking us, like that hasn’t all been said before, and demands haven’t been made, like this is all new, so after that PSAFE wanted us to set up a meeting where we could solve their problems for them. This received more backlash from students- not only are Students of Color being treated unequally compared to their white classmates, but they were tasked by PSAFE to fix their institutional issues, in addition to the work of being a student. Students of Color, racially and ethnically other than white, including international students, are faced with so many issues. These events emphasize the underlying sentiment that Bryn Mawr isn’t as progressive and inclusive as it says that it is. There are two sides that are getting prominence- those that claim nothing is wrong, and those that are being silenced. And that’s it.
Charlie Bruce ’16: This is an opportunity to begin to ask questions. I don’t have any leading questions.
Mara Dominguez ’16: Clarification- before the posters, were they brought on by personal experiences? By people being profiled?
Olivia Porte ’18: From my interpretation, from an art history perspective, the image of the slave with the muzzle- the muzzle was used as a silencing and transporting tool. It highlights sentiments of Students of Color on campus. Bryn Mawr is a racist entity in itself; it is an institution that uses political gains that benefit a race that is deemed superior. Because M. Carey Thomas had said, ‘This is an institution that will be, and will only be, for white women.’ When we look at this institution that has been built for white identifying people, regardless of gender identity, those people have privileges in their favor. People of Color and minorities are deemed inferior and treated as such. On Yik Yak, people were posting things like, ‘If all white people are racist, then I should start acting as one’- that’s a threat. That’s disrespectful, we can critique and call out public safety who has said that they can’t make these people accountable because administration can’t take these people to the honor board. As someone who pays to be here, it’s not worth my money.
Shakari Badgett ’17: I think for me, being on Yik Yak, people are always talking about how other people have bigger issues. Like they’ll say that people are getting beaten on the streets, that racial profiling here isn’t as important as people getting attacked- they come from a place of privilege, and same with the correlation between Black and brown people, and ‘Black Lives Matter.’ They don’t belong in the spaces, this is what gets People of Color killed, being in white people spaces. George Zimmerman thought that Trayvon Martin didn’t belong in the place he was in. Racial profiling gets people killed. These issues are important to recognize.
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: What’s bothering me, sorry, my voice is really annoying, things that I was hearing- Facebook, Yik Yak, and this room is almost silent, and this is an opportunity to voice yourselves. Please do.
Chanel Williams ’16: Going back to spaces, where we feel like we don’t belong. I was having a conversation with another person who also holds a Rep Council position. It’s important for People of Color to be here in this space. It’s a representation of our community. I love seeing people who look like me in this room. I can relate to those people, beyond this meeting. I think it’s important to come back to this space, where our voices can be heard, we can –sorry, I’m kind of emotional- you don’t have to be on the Rep Council, but you’re here and you’re realizing how Bryn Mawr is changing, and you can be a part of this change. Please come back to these meetings.
Hannah Chinn ’19: So going back to that issue, no place to belong, as a Person of Color, but not as Black or Latina, and also a first year- I don’t know a lot about the issues going on, on campus. My ESEM class had a talk about it, and we were surprised and upset, but we didn’t have any answers. So to clarify, are you having a larger conversation outside of SGA? A lot of us are interested and want to stand as allies.
Charlie Bruce ’16: Can I interrupt, who ever wants to speak, can you make eye contact with Gabby and she will add you to speaking order.
Olivia Porte ’18: So as to someone who too last year came in not knowing anything, and then being confronted with a confederate flag, and previously Kalala’s thing- for context, an upperclassmen student put a meme of a Black man running from an ostrich and labeled it so it was Kalala, and put it on his office door, and put a bunch on his hall. I wanted to give space to think of that. It’s hard. Bryn Mawr mystifies us, we get these lanterns, and traditions, and it’s a huge illusion. It’s accessible to one, and inaccessible to others. Keeping that in mind, you shouldn’t need proof to fight for what you think is right. This is an institution; this is the fundamental beliefs of it. They aren’t geared for People of Color to take part in it. I shouldn’t have to pull out from moments, but it shouldn’t be individual instances. Us as a country right now needs to have these conversations, because we are built on white supremacy.
Hannah Chinn ’19: I think I wasn’t asking for proof, as much as some people aren’t engaging because we don’t know what’s going on. So that was all helpful, but will we have other opportunities for explanation and clarification? Like people in my ESEM, like I saw the posters, but I didn’t know what it was about, and it’s not my experience to tell. I’m wondering if we’ll have spaces of clarification, if so, where can people find more information.
Danielle Roomes ’17: We are happy to answer those questions. Send an email to bmccoalition@gmail.com . Also, we will have things coming out that will clarify the goals. Bryn Mawr is a diverse community, we can’t deny that. Welcoming that diversity, PSAFE and this campus as a whole needs to have supports in place that can accommodate those students. You can’t bring people into a diverse community, and then have no resources for them.
Delaney Williams ’17: Is their currently a medium where you are offered a space to voice your criticism? Like a way that you can voice it to the admin?
Nyasa Hendrix ’18: No, but Dani will expand on that.
Danielle Roomes ’17: We have two ways these issues need to be addressed, combat the culture and combat the administration. Both of those things are very complex. It’s a big issue. And the point is these conversations are important, and need to be respected, just like other issues are given the space, minutes are recorded, and so on. These things should not be on the back burner. We want People of Color to feel welcome here, we want everyone to feel welcome here.
Lillian Oyen-Ustad ’19: I wanted to ask, will hosted forums by organizations on campus be formed to create an open space based on these issues?
Danielle Roomes ’17: To answer that question, students in the past have proposed a diversity class requirement. The Deans say it’s not necessary, students won’t support it, and it’s too expensive. But you have people, like me specifically as a student leader, who is more than willing to support and facilitate the creation of this.
Delaney Williams ’17: I motion to extend time by 15 minutes.
Nora Dell ’19: I second.
Charlie Bruce ’16: This is a Representative Council vote only, yes, no, abstain. 15 more minutes to the agenda item.
Khadijah Seay: Dani is willing to open up space to have conversations. I’m the ECC Dorm President, and so we can open up a space in a more neutral place. If you’re not comfortable in large groups, I recognize that people have different access points, and we can facilitate one-on-one talks, or you can even email bmccoalition@gmail.com, where you can ask questions, and people are willing to answer and have these conversations.
Erin Saladin ’16: I just wanted to say that a larger part was around posting policy. People used posting policy to shut down the legitimacy of the posters. If we are defaulting to policy to delegitimize a poster, they are using that to not engage, which is the complete opposite purpose, and a problem we need to also address.
Coco Wang ’16: A suggestion to part of the solution, Tong and I are both CDA’s, and we find it easy to engage Chinese students by writing a narration of what’s happening, and spreading it though social media. Would it be helpful to spread it through that platform in an institutional way, and insert them into conversation?
Olivia Porte ’18: Also use that. If you want to message me on Facebook, do so. I don’t want to extend a hand in general because these conversations can be uncomfortable to some, and I don’t want to talk for other people. But people you care about are hurting, people are hurting people in this room. I think that people in this room have a level of humanity, and they carry it. It’s rooted in love, and making a better place for everyone, making things safe for Students of Color.
Ann Tran ’18: The first thing is I would really like to commend you for your bravery in regards to your protest at PSAFE. It took a lot of courage, and I respect that, but I was curious, who was invited to the protest? As an ally, I would have been interested in demonstrating in solidarity.
Danielle Roomes ’17: Hi, so the first initial meeting was in response to the Yik Yak posts, and the hysteria it had exposed about our campus. So a lot of it was friends supporting each other, and not trusting the listservs. We texted friends who we thought would be interested, given our constraints, it wasn’t meant to isolate people on this campus. We wanted a safe way to reach all of our allies. It’s difficult. Distrust of institution, we’re looking into ways, safe ways, where you can get alerts.
Rhea Manglani ’17: Last year, I held a position that worked really closely with Campus Safety. I’m trying to resurrect the role, to voice what students need to be done. I want to voice concerns, and to establish a point person within SGA to talk to us about what’s going on in PSAFE, and vice versa. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I want to know what I can do to make this position better, and more efficient. Please let me know, as I don’t want to waste time.
Joy Chan ’17: From that, do you feel like SGA is a place to feel empowered and voice your opinions? I think activism inside and outside the system is important.
Bria Montaque ’19: To answer your question, I would say no. As a freshmen coming to Bryn Mawr, I knew the population would be mostly white, and as a Person of Color, my question was how would Black students be supported. I haven’t heard much about these supports. It’s concerning for me. Friends at other institutions, they are doing way more, and it’s concerning and it’s alarming. I want to work towards people feeling included, and their voices being heard.
Sofi Chavez ’17: So I’m trying to make this relevant, someone mentioned wanting to hear stories, and the college news editors wanted to collect incidents and put together a timeline of discriminatory practices in the last few years. I want to record everything that people are willing to contribute, and put it in a timeline format. If people could help me out, we’re trying to make the center spread the Yik Yaks so people don’t forget about them, and we have them forever. Please email anything to deathtothepatriarchy@gmail.com. We’re recording in multiple places.
Miranda Smith ’16: I just had a question for student activists and leaders- we received a Tom King email. Does that reflect what activists wanted? Second question, some sort of insight, how can we support you without taking up space and over talking? What can we do to make it better?
Danielle Roomes ’17: So, their response, at the end of the conversation, we had just come up with some solutions. They were things like, ‘let’s have a meeting next week!’ and stuff that put the labor on us, researching polices and so on. Those things are really inaccessible, because the polices are hard to find. They’re not in the student handbooks, they’re inaccessible, it’s not transparent, and we can’t see what we want to change. We wanted to put students first, and that was not acknowledged by them. Another request was a open condemnation of the students on Yik Yak, but they said they couldn’t do that because they were not making a threatening comment, and therefore it wasn’t their problem. It’s anonymous, so they said they couldn’t do anything. We were like, ‘How do you not see this as relevant?’ but they made it clear that it was our problem to solve. To your next question, it’s one thing for us to be openly criticizing administration and classmates. Everyone should do it too. It’s not over talking, that’s publicly saying what’s right and wrong. If you don’t know what to say, or how to say it, reblog what we’re saying. If you don’t want to over talk, educate classmates. It’s not our job to educate people on racism, you can be informed on efforts, and support us verbally.
Kamyra Edokpolor ’16: I want to bring weight to the fact that microaggressions can be felt in the company of public safety, and some times you feel like you are being watched. I think there is value in that, stories you can’t see right away, feelings and emotions of People of Color. Those experiences are valued and validated as well.
Charlie Bruce ’16: We’re reached the end of the allotted time. It’s also 8:30, and I’m at a loss because I want to respect the conversation, but we also only have this space until 8:30. As per the rules, this meeting needs to get out at 8:30, and I want to respect Jasmine and Celeste who are hosting a hot topic now. I’m going to put it to a vote, if you want the meeting to continue to the end of speaking order. So that’s Modupe and Chanel. Yes, no, abstain. Yes, please continue to the end of speaking order.
Chanel Williams ’16: I’m sorry that you feel that way. I understand that you might have incentives to work outside of the system, but I’m going to ask People of Color to run for COPS head. People representing you inside the system is also helpful. Having a COPS head who knows that experience, so Campus Safety knows that People of Color know that they are being watched. It is very helpful, just to say that People of Color let Campus Safety know how we feel.
Modupe Olufemi ’17: I also want to speak to working within the system. I’ve been a student leader for two years, and SGA isn’t used to help people in the way it could. We cherry pick our concerns. Even among the board and constituents, we are apathetically trying to get change to happen. Just hearing the first years especially, I want to do a lot more to advocate for people.
Charlie Bruce ’16: I want to thank everyone who spoke, I’m really happy, and I’m really hopeful. So thanks everyone. We will be talking about this again next week. If you ever want to host a conversation, I will make it an agenda item, and I will facilitate it so much better, because you will help me. We need a motion to end the meeting.
Shakari Badgett ’17: I motion.
Chanel Williams ’16: I second.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:37pm