Meet your Spring 2021 Candidates for Student Body Senator!

Name: Ana Quintana Bernal

Pronouns: She/Her

Majors/Minors: ES-Bio, French Minor

Platform: Hello there! My name is Ana Quintana Bernal and I am a sophomore ES Bio major. I am running for senate with the hopes of bringing some much-needed representation of the international student community to senate. I have been working at the international students office since last Spring and have been a part of the International Student Advisory Board (ISAB) the two years I have attended Reed, both of which have given me an opportunity to get to know the different situations different students are living. I have become aware of the complications and often animosity that comes with discussing politics of international students. I want to make sure that there is someone thinking of us when it is time for big decisions as well as ease the conversations when decisions are being made that could affect the international student community so as to not put unnecessary pressure on students who have a different experience and point of view. One thing I would like to focus on Optional Practical Training (OPT) for graduating international students. OPT allows international students to extend their visa to work in the U.S. and can be a complicated and long process. Although they are on hold, the student success committee would need to pay extra attention to this particular process, and I want to be a good advocate for the community as this matter is discussed.

Name: Ena Hashimoto

Pronouns: She/Her

Major/Minor: Environmental Studies-Biology, Dance Minor

Platform: Hello!! My name is Ena Hashimoto (eh-nah), I use she/her pronouns, and I am running for Senate this semester! A little bit about myself, I am a rising junior majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Dance. I am a queer, Japanese immigrant and I came to the US when I was two. So I’ve lived in Santa Barbara, California for most of my life, but also have been lucky enough to be able to visit Japan many times. I grew up in a Japanese household, so I will not understand any of your childhood tv show references…sry. Oh, also I’m obsessed with clouds. :)

You may also know me from the Student Body Treasury! I have been on Treasury for three semesters and I am currently Head Treasurer...although I am leaving soon because it is a three semester position :’( More on my work on Treasury, my platform, and frustrations with Reed below!

✨ Why I want to run for Senate/Frustrations with Reed✨

In the last two years at Reed and on Treasury, I have been disappointed over and over again by the administration and the school as a whole for its blatant racism, lack of support for students who are do not identify as either high-SES, white, or cis, and its refusal to change to actually reflect its “diverse” and “progressive” advertising. Particularly, I am extremely frustrated that the issues faced by students who are BIPOC, low-SES or on financial aid, a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, or with a disability (or belong to any other underrepresented community) are always solved by the very students who are inconvenienced. Just a few examples are the Pantry, Reed Community Mutual Aid (and SOS), SWDC, Period Kollectiv, Low-SES Student Group and Textbook Collective. It is literally not the students’ jobs to

fix Reed’s problems, yet we are forced to because the college will not do anything more than write an “consolation” email. In addition, none of these groups are financially supported by the school, which again shows Reed’s negligence towards its students (although the whole point of RCMA is to not be directly involved with the school). As a senator, I would like to work in partnership with student organizations and resources to ensure that these spaces and resources that are vital to students are supported financially and institutionally by the administration.

Although not all of my platform directly involves problems of the Reed administration, through my votes in Senate and additional projects I will likely take on, I hope to continue to support fellow students from underrepresented communities and combat the nightmare that is Reed administration. More of my frustrations manifested as changes I hope to create, below...

☁ My Platform☁

These are the changes that I hope to achieve during my time on Senate...

○ Bylaw Review/Changes, which will be done as a joint effort with the organizations involved in the bylaws, specifically...

• Changes to bylaws surrounding student publications and student publication editor/contributor wages, so that editors and contributors from every student publication can be compensated fairly for their work

• Harm reduction against and procedures for how Senate members should confront misconduct caused by a member of Senate

• Changes to the allocation of endowment interest by Treasury, so that the recently increased interest could be spent to line-item fund important student organizations

○ SCAPP

• Hold professors accountable to make their course structures and assignment deadlines more considerate and flexible towards working students, students with extenuating circumstances, students with either undiagnosed or diagnosed medical conditions, etc.

• Expand SCAPP’s jurisdiction and increase the weight of student input during CAPP

• Create/bring back Intro Bio, Chem, and Math courses specifically for non-STEM majors, so that students’ GPAs are not harmed by a class that has nothing to do with their major ○ Board Plan

• Expand the option of board plans so that there are larger and smaller options. The ultimate goal is to make board plans more affordable to low-SES/financial aid students. It’s ridiculous that we all have to pay twice the amount we can spend.

○ Increase financial support by the college for student organizations and resources • Such as Pantry, SWDC, Period Kollectiv, Low-SES student group, Textbook Collective, SOS, etc. • Also would like to assist in expanding student safe spaces and resources with students, so that the organizations are institutionally supported right from the start. Including but not limited to, sex positive/ bdsm, polyam, ace/aro, ASU, and more student groups that the college currently does not have. I believe in terms of student led orgs, we have done a great job, but there is always more to be done, and because many of these orgs may require professional staff/support, I would like to be a senator who can help facilitate that process.

• All changes to be done in a joint effort with involved organizations/people

# My work on Treasury...chronologically#

○ COVID-19 Relief Fund for students

• Although that ended up being shut down for accidental tax fraud...oops

○ Board Plan changes

• So actually, this board plan project has been in the works for at least two semesters, but as with any project involving the Reed administration, change comes very slow. I hope to continue to fight for larger and smaller board plans, and for the fees to be similar to a sliding scale format so that it is more affordable for students on financial aid.

○ Donuts in the marketplace

• Sorry I had to put this in here. Also, they’re gone now, for some reason so I’m definitely gonna ask them to bring them back.

○ Changed/Changing funding formats and consulting various sources of funds so that all student publications can get line item funding for printing.

• Also working to get Pantry, SWDC, and other important student orgs financially supported by admin

• Line item funding important student orgs with funds other than SB funds will allow for more money to go to student activities and fun things! (although student publications is tricky bc having the funded by admin is a conflict of interest so we will be funding them)

○ Bylaw Committee

• Surprise! I am already on the Bylaw Committee, as a treasurer. I would like to continue working on bylaws to ensure student autonomy and safety!

○ ...three semesters worth of time on Senate and Treasury :D

If you’ve read this far, thank youuu. I’d appreciate it if you vote for me during elections!!

Have a wonderful cloud-filled day

Ena<3

Name: Johann Niebuhr

Pronouns: He/Him

Major/Minor: Environmental Studies - Political Science

Platform: Heyo, my name's Johann or Hans for short. Don't let the name fool you, I don't speak a word of German, I'm Japanese actually. This means that though I like anime, I'm not a weeb. I'm "just" a nationalist.

I'm running because in running my club, the Neurodivergence + club, I learned of the many inconsistent accommodations given for mental health. I also learned in my 2 years here just how overbearing and ineffective CSOs can be at times.

As senator, I want to make Reed a place that's more accepting and open for everyone, regardless of health, mental or physical, to enjoy. That means wider and more visible accommodations, and putting checks on CSO discretion for a system that will serve students better.

Name: Arley Sakai

Pronouns: He/Him

Major/Minor: English/Creative Writing

Platform: Hi fellow Reedites, my name is Arley Sakai (he/him), a soon-to-be-sophomore-creative writing-wannabe, and I am running for a seat in Senate!

My campaign is one based on two philosophies: continuing the incredible projects Senate is involved with currently while also acknowledging that Reed is, like most educational institutions, flawed and always has room for new initiatives for change.

As we've all seen in the past year, Senate turnover is extremely quick, making longterm projects hard to finish; I seek to continue and embolden projects currently in the run to make sure we SEE those changes. This includes: senate’s work on race-bias training for HUM110 faculty (and, ideally, ALL faculty), getting HUM110 content warnings, continuing work with Title IX and SHARE, support of the community pantry, improvement of the academic advising system, and general work around senate transparency.

In addition to this work, there are two new causes I want to bring to the table to make Reed a more equitable and inclusive space:

I want to expand the options survivors of sexual assault have, specifically in monetary support. The Survivors' Support Fund would be a financial reserve that may be administered through SHARE/HCC for survivors (who won't have to file a report or go through a judicial process to see funds!). The money may be used for medical co-pays, transportation fees for off-campus therapy, assistance in off-campus living, and much more -- all within confidentiality. The Support Fund would operate independent of the college, using Senate student activity funds + donations, and prioritize survivors' well-being and needs.

I also want to create a dialogue around creating POC communities supported by the institution. It's exhausting having to devote all our (precious! limited!) time to creating safe spaces within this college when we paid to go to a supposedly "inclusive and diverse" school. Identity-based groups should exist unconditionally. They should be available year-round and be inclusive of all years. Funding for these groups should be consistent and sustained (even if it means transitioning from senate funds to direct institutional backing). The college itself should support these groups so that students can spend more time BEING WITH THEIR RESPECTED COMMUNITY instead of spending all their time just trying TO FIND THE COMMUNITY in the first place! Safe spaces should not be reactive to current events and then disappear when things "return to normal." We should feel safe, seen, and heard all the damn time, no matter what.

Lastly, I recognize that there are gaps in my platform that do not address the many other pressing problems pervading the Reed campus. As such, these are some issues I intend to further educate myself on and hopefully confront as a senator: discrimination and inadequate transparency by and of Campus Security; improving President-student relationships; on-campus environmental policies (can we make compost, just more of like, a thing?! ); transitioning to a post-COVID Reed equitably and safely; and quite truly buckets more.

As I said in my petition, this is all a lot of work and difficult work -- which is why it needs to be done! Merci beaucoup pour reading my platform and giving a freak about this silly little clown college. My email is arleysakai@reed.edu if you want to chat or bring up an issue. I will be more than happy to talk. Now...sashay awayyyy!

Name: Tieran Sweeny-Bender

Pronouns: They/Them

Major/Minor: Religion

Platform: Hi! My name is Tieran Sweeny-Bender (they/them/theirs), I’m a rising-senior religion major, and I’m running to return to Senate for this coming year to push hard for continued reform within the division of student life. For a long time, the administration has used student autonomy as an excuse to avoid providing necessary resources and support to students. If student autonomy is important, the thinking has been, then the division only has to provide the minimum level of services and support unless the student body explicitly asks. And yet, when students push for more resources, the pace of change is practically glacial—the administration would rather just stonewall folks and wait them out until they graduate, then actually make meaningful change. I was a Senator for Spring 2020 and I am running to return to Senate because I think there is growing momentum to break that cycle and I want to be a part of pushing the division towards a culture in which it is expected that admin build partnerships with the student body, and where student autonomy is centered but not used as an excuse to avoid providing students the support we need and have asked for. I have been an HA for two years and have seen the negative impact that years of this toxic culture in the division have had on Res Life and meant that HAs are left with the full responsibility of bringing other important resources into the dorms instead of creating systems in partnership with HAs, to offer folks a living environment that allows them easier access to the resources they need. During my past time on Senate, I served on the Student Life Working Group to plan for how the division would operate this year. I pushed to make sure student needs were centered in the planning process and that the systems set up for the year created as many ways for folks to be together

and form community as possible while still being safe. I also had a chance to watch more closely the ways that the division makes decisions and the ways that toxic and non-toxic administrative cultures are practiced and replicated. I have spent a year away from Reed and I think it has given me more perspective on what isn’t working in the ways that the administration engages with the study body. During my time away, I worked in another environment that was undergoing healthy culture change and it has given me further insight into how to push the Student Life division towards a healthier relationship with the student body. This coming year will hopefully be a time of orienting towards a post-COVID future, as a Senator, I would focus on working with the Office for Student Engagement to help rebuild student clubs that have had to be dormant or much less active because of COVID and create systems that encourage the maintenance of institutional memory so that student autonomy is centered, but students, in partnership with staff, have the institutional knowledge they need to do the things they want to do. With Residence Life, I would focus on pushing them to integrate more resources into the dorms, especially into first-year communities. My hope for Reed and the culture in Student Life is that it becomes a place where students are trusted to know what they need and then fully supported and empowered to navigate the sometimes complex levels of bureaucracy in order to get what they need.

Senator Candidate Profiles!

Meet your Spring 2021 Candidates for Student Body Senator!