1. Diversity Initiatives Committee Inclusivity Document - DIC and Lee Scandinaro
Eric: Been getting emails and comments; I agree with the basic idea, but there are some things in it I'm not too fond of
- Reads an email from a constituent -
Some clubs have been telling us to vote yes because they need the money
That undermines the value of the Commitment, and it makes meaningful participation hard to judge
There's really no way for us to check if they're upholding their constitution; it's an honor system
Nick Gordon: Could you read an email that shows they didn’t?
Eric Chang: I didn't get any emails like that; they came to me in person
Marlys Kotyuk: I have received similar emails
Received a great email from a great woman
They wanted me to vote yes
I started getting more emails after the meeting
Then I started getting more of the same ones!
Then one of my representatives showed me that someone had replied to all of my constituents and asked to send out block emails to me
I got another email that said the monetary incentive would take away from the value of the
That was a great idea, and I think that's a great alternative to the monetary incentive
Sam Quagliana: That was me trying to reason through the problems, since people didn't think the money was a good idea
People believe that the $100 wasn't that big of a deal; that's like a pizza party
If you're going to do it for the money, you should learn something while you're there anyway
Tim: I was a little concerned at first about the money as well
What Eric mentioned was kind of disturbing
Even if they don't learn anything, at least they're still participating in the program, which I kind of see as a sign of success
I wanted to make a comment about the emails as well; because I did get the same email
But I think that the number of constituents I see here speaks volumes
The best way to get people to take you seriously is to actually show up!
Maya: Getting the same email is how the government works
That's just a way of showing support succinctly
The patches idea creates a different kind of divide
We don't know how that $100 would go
Andrea: VP of Q&A, I don't think it particularly matters why people go through these programs
Hawk Weisman: Isn't the purpose of any incentive to encourage individuals to do things they otherwise wouldn't do?
Isn't that a positive thing?
Eric Chang: If you say $100 isn't a lot of money, give them the option to turn that incentive down; we'll see which clubs are actually being genuine about it. We could cap the amount of clubs that go through this process; that's not financially responsible
Katie Beck: I think that accepting the money and being genuine is a thing
Nick Schake: After last week's meeting, I didn't receive an email asking what I thought about it. And when I did get one, it was a copy-pasted email
Grant Richman: Rachel Dingman is Safe Zone trained, and I got to explain that to someone. The prospective family said that was an amazing thing. I think that now
Kim, Rep of ReProCo and College Dems: This is a service to the community. They go to this program; assuming that they're only doing this for the money is devaluing it. Whether or not there's money involved, it's really important that we consider this
Alexis Nielson:
Address to fellow senators:
- I'm disappointed in the behavior I've seen this week
- Cabinet was convinced that conversation around Diversity was something that we so needed that they established a committee for it
- There was a lot of discussion at the past senate meeting, but only 5 senators were at the DIC meeting
- Let me remind of you of the statement of community
- This is what we're charged with: actively confronting discrimination and harassment
- There is still work to be done
- A student living on the 3rd floor of Brooks did not have access to an elevator and went down the stairs on crutches for months
- As a woman, I'm told that I am being too emotional when I'm passionate about an issue
- This might be the most important thing that we've ever attempted to do
- In a perfect world, we would not even need an incentive
Leslie-Paul Jamerson: This is a step in the right direction, although I do disagree with the incentive. I think that this sticker idea is something that should be validated. With the copy-pasted emails, it's hard to me to see the real reason how this would make a different
Paige Slaughter: The Safe Zone sticker is not a gold star. It's a symbol for people to come into that space and feel welcome
The people who are going to do these trainings don't need these symbols, because they already care.
Doranny Jaime Abreu: I think that the sticker idea is kind of separating. What would it say about clubs that decide not to participate? Also: did we decide on a cap? So let's say there were 25 clubs, so the clubs that couldn't do it, is it a first-come first-served thing?
Lee: Yes, but that's only for the first year. A few years ago, we created a Green Initiatives Fund, so we could do something similar
Mary Grace: Someone could offer an amendment concerning the sticker idea. Our ASG formal cost covers about two thirds of the clubs who
Cookie: Should this be something that should be a requirement?
Alicia: I'm on the mind that this should be a requirement to be on the board of any club. People in your club should be able to go to their exec members with whatever problems they're facing. This money will probably be going to more diversity-related events
Larry Hailsham: A lot of people are mentioning the symbol. Straw poll from ASG members
Nick Schake: In what shape does the symbol come out?
Larry Hailsham: We can discuss that later
Aurora: This is a similar, gathering opinion thing
Andrew: Somebody said badge-of-honor for this sticker. Flip that. Grant's example was great; it's not saying I did this and I got this sticker. It's saying hey, I did this, any my office is an opening space
- Some discussion with Gretchen about the technicalities of a straw poll -
Lee Scandinaro: I would like to call forth a straw poll on this issue
Larry Hailsham: We had 35 in favor, 10 against, and 2 abstentions
Constituents, if you are in favor of having this, as a constituent, please raise your hands. We had 4 in favor, 36 against
Lee Scandinaro: I think that some people are a little caught up on the copy-paste thing
Leanne Siwicki:I just want to say that I'm pretty upset with some of the behavior I'm seeing around the room, especially on Cabinet and
Hilary Fenrich: I don't know about the sticker, but I'm not a fan of . Just because you go through training, you are not more inclusive. I would want to know your real reason for going through training; I would rather have people who genuinely want to be trained
BJ Nelson: I agree with Hilary; having groups just do this for the monetary incentive makes this gimmicky and it makes it something that won't do out of genuineness
Shep: Can we have another straw poll of the senators after seeing that of the constituents?
Larry: Sure. 26 in favor, 20 not in favor, 4 who abstained. We're going to continue to talk until someone chooses to motion
Maya: I am a beloved person of Dr. Seuss. That story of the star-bellied sneetches. People wanted those stars on their bellies because it made them different. I share that story to share that this is not about a sticker
I did not come here to have a conversation about a sticker; I came here to talk about the initiative itself
The sticker or star or whatever might bring a couple of people to you would not affect as much change as change from $100 would. I don't want to talk about a sticker. If people are going simply for the $100, it doesn't matter
Can we talk about how we're going to get people? There are other programs!
There's CLC! You cannot drown out the CLC! It's entire week!
Sarah Fiore - GAP's Ex-officio for ASG: Lee, can you explain more about the green initiative budget? It would be better if clubs could pull funds from that budget
Lee: I think that's a separate discussion
Gretchen Symons: Clubs did not take advantage of it, and so it dissolved
Sarah Fiore: I think that we're caught up on this $100. And I think that this would create a long-term goal
Lee: I think Gretchen summed it up when she said that initiative failed
Sarafina – President of GFC and Model UN
More than half of the GFC board is Safe Zone and bystander trained
But putting something up would kind of pervert the maining of those trainings
I would like to say that it perverts that message of each person who is trained
I think that this is a good way to do it; by tapping the leaders of student groups on campus
Rose So: I think it's really important to being the voting process. The concern about forcing this into the club's constitutions; I think it would be problematic in that you're forcing people to come to these trainings. They wouldn't want to be forced to come these things
Katie Beck: I just want to reiterate that this is an optional initiative and that no club would be forced to do this
Aviv: Some basic economics: you make way over $100 in the 6 hours it takes to go through Safe Zone Training
Nick Schake: By incentivizing,
Kris
Two points
1. Sticker
- I don't want the sticker because it's a visible symbol and its stigmatizing if you don't have it
2. Paying money
- It degrades the meaning of going to those trainings
- People don't make changes to the way that they live and the way that they operate
- You can't change what you refuse to confirm
Max Lindquist: If you have a number of ASG members who are Safe Zoned trained?
Kevin: I would say at minimum, 40-45
Max Lindquist
In terms of the club, even if there's an incentive or not, you should be electing people who are inclusive
We shouldn't need ASG! That's missing the point!
Jen Glen
To what Maya said: I wholly support the inclusivity trainings, but I don't support this initiative
I do think it's important to talk about the sticker and the money
You came here to talk about the initiative, not about how to support these trainings
ASG brought Safe Zone training upon the senators as something we could do
People can put this into their club constitutions anyway
I support this, but I have a problem with mandating that people go to something they might not get anything out of
Devin: It seems that everyone is losing the sight of these trainings
I don't think that incentivizing people to go to these trainings is the way to do
Miguel: I move that we vote on the Commitment to Diversity
Leslie-Paul Jamerson: Second
John Lichina: If we're going to require this later, doesn't that undermine the point of this?
Larry: I'm not sure if that
Paige: Something that concerned me is that there are a large portion of us who are seniors, and
Larry Hailsham: This motion does pass!
Tim: An aspect of the badge: would it be possible to have the badge say that, as a club member, I personally feel safe
I am personally surprised by the overall rejection of this symbol. I urge everyone to not throw away this idea
For me, the idea is about bring clubs closer together
Katie Beck: Club exec. Boards can absolutely identify to their members that they want to include this in their constitutions
Kirby Vasquez: Once people are Safe Zone trained, their name goes up on a list in the CIASS
Possibly, OSI could do something similar
Brittany Iafrate: I'm not going to put a sticker on my garden. But I can put it in my constitution
Sarah Naughton: I just want everyone to be cognizant that we can always amend and work out the logistics of this amendment. Things can always be rebuilt or modified
Grace:How can we be for something but not take tangible steps towards something
Sam Quagliana: The document says that this is a voluntary thing. The sticker is just telling others that we've done this training
Motion to end the meeting
Lee -> Second
Katie Beck: I have office hours tomorrow in the ASG Office. DIC meets Sundays at 5
Meeting End: 8:53
