The AS Student Senate during their meeting on Friday, Nov. 22. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
Abdul Malik Ford was absent from the Associated Students Student Senate Meeting on Dec. 6.
Support letter for sexual assault syllibi disclaimer
Nineteen senators voted to sign a letter in support of including a sexual assault disclaimer in class syllabi campus-wide. The disclaimer outlines the portion of Western’s student conduct code that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, includes definitions of sexual misconduct and harrasment and lists resources available to students. Along with being included on class syllabi, the letter also advocates for including the disclaimer on Western’s policy page.
Lilli Donahoe, a human services student who helped develop the disclaimer through a participatory action research project, and Adah Barenburg, senate pro-tempore, presented the letter. Barenburg explained that she hopes to send the letter to all students, administration and faculty on campus.
Donahoe said in a later email that it is called a “disclaimer” to align the message with other policies that appear on class syllabi, such as plagiarism disclaimers. Donahoe described the disclaimer as a warning against the act of sexual harassment, sending the message that it will not be tolerated in the classroom.
“Using the same terminology strengthens the argument that if an anti-plagiarism policy is on all syllabi, why is there not one on sexual assault?” Donahoe said in an email.
Finance Council
The senate approved the Finance Council Charter 18-0-1. Jose Cervantes-Aguilar for the Graduate School abstained from the vote. The Finance Council will work as a consolidated body to manage AS funds, according to the process document. A subcommittee within the Restructure Committee will be evaluating the Finance Council during week six of winter and spring quarters.
Legislative Agenda
The senate approved the 2019-2020 Legislative Agenda 17-0-2. Luke Arnold for the College of Fine and Performing Arts and Elias Bashir for the College of Science and Engineering abstained from the vote. The AS Legislative Affairs Council created the agenda, which outlines the topics that will be covered at Western Lobby Day on Jan. 19 and 20.
Grace Drechsel, VP for governmental affairs, reviewed the agenda with the senate. The legislative agenda covers funding for ethnic studies, mental health and wellness, support for undocumented students, college affordability and student loan forgiveness, support for survivors, environmental protections and climate justice. The agenda also lists suggestions of how these programs and projects could be funded.
Drechsel explained that the Executive Board suggested to spell out Bellingham-specific acronyms, like Consultation and Sexual Assault Support, which often goes by CASAS, so the agenda is more accessible to the Washington State legislators who will review it.
During the board meeting on Dec. 6, Sargun Handa, senator at-large, suggested a renaming of the section titled “supporting survivors.” Handa said renaming the section “support for survivors of sexual assault,” would make it clearer what students are advocating for. Drechsel said these changes will be made before the agenda is printed.