Senate Beat: Feb 22, 2021

Committee Reports Discuss HUM 110 Proposals

The Public Senate meeting this week was largely uneventful. There was no topic or agenda for the meeting; it began with Student Body President Priya Narain starting committee reports. Narain mentioned that she and Vice Treasurer Kodinna Anachebe received training on the Appeals Board, and expressed optimism about the future work she will do with the new training she has received.

Senator Safi Zenger had little updates in regards to her committee appointments. She did, however, attend her first safety meeting as a part of the Health and Safety Committee. The meeting was largely uneventful, but updates were provided about the Sports Center collapse. According to the committee, no one was injured in the collapse, and assessments of the damage have begun. She also spoke about Academic Support and Services Committee, which is working to streamline the process of reviewing and changing one’s academic advisor.

Head Treasurer Ena Hashimoto followed and announced that funding poll is up and running, but participation has been dismal. 34 clubs are in the poll, but student participation has been lower than anticipated. Hashimoto also met with the business office about donating meal plan points to the pantry if students have any leftover points at the end of the term. If implemented, Commons would purchase wholesale products using the points, which will go to the pantry. 

Vice Treasurer Kodinna Anachebe spoke about several internal appointments on the Judicial Board, Honor Council, and Restorative Justice. They have also been working on budget reconciliations for Senate and have sent the paperwork over to the business office. Anachebe and Assistant Treasurer Kiana Cunningham-Rodriguez are meeting with Residence Life (Res Life) in hopes of circulating a student poll to gauge student opinions on Res Life. 

Alondra Loza finished committee reports by updating Senate about her work in creating a sobriety coalition. The coalition would work with the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Committee and the Health and Counseling Center (HCC), both of which have been contacted by Loza to set up meetings and conversations about next steps. 

Following Committee Reports, Naito and Sullivan Area Coordinator Miranda James asked about the Student Committee on Diversity and the work they are doing. Loza gave a brief summary of last semester’s work and the continuation planned for this semester. Last semester the committee attempted to implement a proposal to promote race sensitivity training for professors teaching Humanities 110 (HUM 110) and a student consultant. This proposal was denied. As a result, the committee is trying to come up with a new proposal to present this semester, perhaps targeting Humanities tutors. The committee hopes to unburden students of color from having to teach their classes about race sensitivity by training tutors to participate in Humanities 110 conferences and speak about race. Narain added that a HUM 110 proposal meeting, attended by faculty and administrators, had recently occured. It was a productive conversation, but according to Narain, rather disappointing. The conversation centered around the prospect of race sensitivity training for professors teaching HUM 110. Narain expressed disappointment because studies have shown that, if it is mandated, most trainees will not be receptive to race sensitivity training. To combat this, administrators might need to incentivize the training of professors. Following the meeting, Narain and Vice President Aziz Ouedraogo met with Dean for Institutional Diversity Mary James and debriefed about the meeting. According to Narain, the team talked about possible avenues to implement meaningful race sensitivity training policy.