By Asia Fields
Around twenty students stopped by the event on May 9 in the Underground Coffeehouse, which Randhawa said is part of an effort to sit down and listen to students more. He also said he will start visiting dining halls during lunch.
Student support
Gabby Rigby, a community health major who does outreach and violence prevention education for Consultation and Sexual Assault Support, asked about the part of the strategic plan that says Western commits to justice and equity.
“The description of that goal really looks like a bunch of buzzwords the university has used for years,” he said.
Rigby said Western has said it’s committed to diversity, but there needs to be more support for marginalized students.
“As a trans student, I’ve felt really left behind by the university,” he said.
Randhawa said his focus with equity and diversity is increasing the graduation rate and addressing achievement gaps so all students succeed, no matter their background.
Huskey said she wants to see Western expand services for marginalized students. She said she has noticed there are a lot of roles at Western students have filled out of necessity that should be filled by professional staff. She wants to change this without taking over the work students have done, she said.
“We have not historically provided what I would expect at an institution of our size,” she said.
Rigby asked what Huskey and Randhawa think the university’s responsibility is to students who have experienced something that made them feel unsafe.
Huskey said the university must have a swift, adequate and trauma-informed investigation, whether through the Equal Opportunity Office, University Police or an internal process.
Rigby asked Huskey if she felt the university was doing a good job at that.
“I think we can do better, but that’s not a critique of my colleagues,” Huskey said.
Sustainable period products
Hanna Bridgham is the Associated Students Environmental Center coordinator. She organized the Sustainability, Period. event in February.
In response to Randhawa’s question about what student need is, Bridgham discussed the high number of responses to the order form the
Environmental Center and Womxn’s Identity Resource Center created for students to receive free sustainable period products. It received around 800 responses in 72 hours, which is more than the 200 responses expected, Bridgham said.
Bridgham asked for Randhawa’s support in getting Western to sell sustainable period projects for zero profit.
Huskey agreed the question of providing period products is an equity issue, and said it would require finding money somewhere in the budget.
The Environmental and Sustainability Programs office is conducting a survey to further gauge student need and determine what communities on campus have the most need.
Huskey and Randhawa agreed to meet with students organizing around sustainable period products in the future. Huskey also said it would also be informative to see what other universities have done.
Political divide
Two attendees asked Randhawa about how the divide between political beliefs could be addressed at Western.
Randhawa said Western’s goal is not to promote any particular political ideology, but to create a culture of academic freedom. He agreed Western faculty tend to fall on one side of the spectrum, but said any efforts to bring more conservative speakers to campus would need to come from students and faculty, not from the administration.
Study Group and international student support
Noble Solana-Walkinshaw, an AS Board assistant, asked about the controversy surrounding Western’s contract with Study Group, a company that recruits international students, without faculty support.
Randhawa reiterated previous statements and said he thought conversations had preceded his time at Western, and that looking back, he would have discussed it more with faculty. He said last year, only eight of 3,100 new freshmen were international students, which is down from 30 in the previous year.
“We’re just totally off the scale on recruitment,” he said.
Rigby asked if the university would also increase support services to international students, including culturally-informed violence prevention services.
Huskey said she is working on support services for international students, and said Western benefits from having an experienced partner through Study Group.
Other questions
When asked about recent AS candidates’ supports for a student senate, Randhawa said the initiative started last year is complex, but that the current AS Board met with the Faculty Senate on Monday to discuss logistics. He said if students are going to serve on Faculty Senate committees, they will need to be engaged.
One student asked about how they could bring the Coexist Movement back to life and plan a Red Square event around it. Randhawa commended them for wanting to do something positive on campus.
Another student asked if the university had a risk mitigation plan in the case of war or other extreme situations. Randhawa said Western always aims to support students, and then moved on to mentioning support for undocumented students and recruiting more international students.