I am a Senator and Woman of Color. I Stand with Andrew Sakahara.

When I joined Senate, it was a majority white group whose members I mostly didn’t know. Andrew Sakahara made me feel welcomed more than anyone else, and it is truly a shame that this job pushed him so far he felt he had no choice but to resign. In his resignation, Andrew stated that “it’s been months in the making,” and I believe that’s true. I have witnessed firsthand the emotional toll this job took on him, seen him mocked, laughed at, dismissed, and interrupted over and over again in the course of my time as Senator. Even in his last moments as he delivered his resignation, I witnessed former coworkers rolling their eyes and exchanging looks. In the days following, I have heard members of Senate loudly disparaging him in public (did you really think people couldn’t hear you?) in front of their friends. The truth is that there is an in-group and Andrew was not a part of it. Even when outnumbered by peers who didn’t respect him, Andrew attempted to make Senate more equitable and stand up to people who attempted to overstep their bounds and assert authority they did not have. He would rather be belittled than be a sycophant, and I respect him greatly for that. 

I have known Andrew Sakahara for longer than anyone on Senate, and for the entire time I have known him, up until this past week, I have been either his coworker or, as was the case for a year, in a position of authority over him. During Andrew’s first year at Reed I was the HA of the BIPOC housing community, and Andrew was my resident. Needless to say, I have watched him interact with womxn, and womxn of color in particular (BIPOC housing that year was almost entirely female), on a daily basis, and I have yet to witness any instances of misogyny or misogynoir. Moreover, he was always respectful of me as his HA and as his senior. I cannot speak to the experiences of others; all I can say is that if Andrew is uncomfortable with women in power, then that’s certainly news to me. Andrew treats people based not on who they are or what they look like, but on what they have done.

You may wonder why I don’t step down too. If I hate Senate so much, why not leave? The truth is that I love my job. I love being a senator, and I cannot in good conscience leave without at least trying to make Senate a better place than when I began. I owe it to Andrew, I owe it to the other senators and treasurers who are trying to do what’s right, and I owe it to the student body. See you all next public.

Written by Senator and Parliamentarian Lina Eid, with the support and approval of Maya Gutierrez (Vice Treasurer), Yuri Garcia (Assistant Treasurer and Parliamentarian), and Leila Mye (Senator).