Samuel Casey
Staff Writer
On Oct. 15 and 16, the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted planning meetings for student organizations on campus who wanted to voice concerns at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. At the planning meetings, the SGA executive board spoke to the leaders or representatives of these organizations individually to discuss some of the main points and goals they will have when presenting in front of the Trustees.
“This is a very unique and important opportunity for students,” said Monét Davis ‘19, president of SGA, who ran the meetings. “It allows students to talk to the Trustees and push [the Trustees] to advocate on their behalf to the administration.”
Over 10 representatives attended the planning meetings and spoke at length about their respective organizations.
Robyn Newcomb ’20 of the Living Wage Campaign spoke about the four main arguments that show the necessity for a living wage on campus. She listed moral and practical imperatives, as well as the importance of supporting workers in order to bridge the College and city communities. She also stressed the need to live up to the collegiate values described in our graduate qualities.
“There is no good argument against a living wage at this point,” said Newcomb. “Not only is it a human right, but our campus cannot function because we aren’t paying people enough to stay,” she continued in reference to the closing of Kittridge last spring.
Sam Royer ’19, general manager of Woo 91, is asking the Trustees to put the sale of the radio station’s FM license on hold indefinitely. Royer said that students who run the station were left out of conversations regarding its future.
“We believe we deserve to have a voice in this decision and be able to look into our own resources.” He also added that a petition of over a thousand signatures, survey results and letters from alumni show that “the FM radio station is a valuable asset to this institution.”
Myra Praml ’19, co-president of Sexual Respect Coalition (SRC), formerly called k(no)w, wants to update the Trustees on the progress of the Survival Advocacy House. “Applications will be going out in the spring for the house to get up and running next fall,” Praml said. “As a program house, this space would work in conjunction with SRC taking on a lot of the advocacy and support-related responsibilities…” Praml also added that SRC wants to address the lack of certain content warnings on syllabi that would allow classrooms to be as safe as they can be while also promoting an environment where difficult topics can be discussed.
Queer Student Union and Queer People of Color are working together to push for better cultural competency regarding queer issues and an increased awareness of pronouns.
Black Student Association also wants to address the Trustees about the ineffectiveness of cultural competency training.
Several other groups will be speaking to the Trustees on Wednesday, Oct 24. All representatives attended two more meetings after the initial planning meetings to divide their speaking time with fellow organizations and to finalize what they would be addressing.