Eastern Mennonite University
Student Government Association Senate
Agenda
22nd of October, 2014
Call to Order
Becca Jo calls the meeting to order at 8:04pm.
Roll Call
| Sarah Marie Longenecker | abs |
| Taylor Esau | x |
| Kaltuma Noorow | abs |
| Matej Gligorevic | x |
| Kate Weaver | x |
| Kat Lehman | x |
| Mario Valladares | abs |
| Emma King | x |
| Hans Bontrager Singer | x |
| Roberto Wingfield | x |
| Isaiah Williams | x |
| Ryan Swartz | x |
| Charlie Good | x |
| Becca Jo Longenecker | x |
| Becca Martin | x |
| Erin Nafziger | x |
| Kyle Storc | abs |
| Ken Nafziger | x |
| Amy Springer | abs |
| Jane Wenger-Clemens | abs |
Approval of Minutes
Ken suggests a change to the minutes. Change to the minutes passed unanimously.
Announcements
Who’s Who at EMU
Each executive members and senators are receiving a packet of faculty and staff members at EMU.
Subcommittee reporting
Fill out the subcommittee form by next Friday, explaining what was discussed during the meeting.
Introduction
Aliese Gingrich is here joining us tonight.
Old Business
Exploring Discipline at EMU event
This event is happening on November 11-13. There is an online signup for students to sign up for the different meetings facilitated by John Swartz. Becca Jo explains that she is forwarding all emails to the Safety Committee.
New Business
Task Force Proposal: Aliese Gingrich
Aliese Gingrich is a senior studying Spanish and English as a Second Language. She is requesting the formation of a task force to address sexual violence at EMU. She expresses that we (EMU) rarely discuss sexual violence and its affect on our community. Very few people feel equipped to deal with sexual assault due to the lack of resources at EMU.
She is pushing for a group to constantly push for open dialogue. Without institutional support, students’ requests to organize educational opportunities around sexual violence will be scattered.
Kat asks for clarification on what a task force is. Aliese responds that a task force is developing a group of professors, faculty, and students to meet regularly and discuss what is happening. The purpose of this task force is to facilitate how various efforts can work together to make lasting changes.
Jane comments that she has been the Take Back the Night for the past seventeen years, and has never seen the administration as ready to move forward as they are now. Jane affirms Aliese’s request for a task force, and shares that if the student body shows readiness for this movement, the administration will jump on board as well. Overall, there is a general feel of readiness.
Isaiah asks if the task force will need funding down the line. Aliese shares that this depends on what the task force chooses to initiate.
Erin asks why Aliese chose this route to deal with sexual assault. Aliese shares that she grew up talking about this “issue”, her work as a camp counselor and hearing stories of friends made her feel very equipped to pass positive empowerment. Aliese realized this summer how little training EMU provides for new students, and became more and more outraged. The more she dug into this topic, the more she has discovered possible ideas for EMU to be putting into action. Many policies at EMU are interwoven into this issue, and its past time that we start talking about those factors.
Ken asks if any (non-first years) were aware of new components in orientation. Becca Jo recalls that there was some sort of bystander training. Kat recalls a few slides in general orientation. Becca M has heard very little about this training. Emma asks if this is only available to first-years. Ken shares that they are working on putting the bystander training on moodle.
Becca M affirms Aliese’s idea to have the task force unite and coordinate various efforts already going on on campus.
Jane asks for clarification on “real data” within her proposals. Becca Jo suggests striking “things like” on the proposal.
Isaiah made a motion to support the task force. Kat seconded. 10 in favor. Motion passed unanimously.
Open Floor
Becca M asks if senators have been meeting with their institutional meeting.
If you cannot make a meeting, email Erin.
Charlie created a Facebook event, and asks for everyone to invite EMU students via facebook.
Adjournment
Hans motions to adjourn the meeting. Kate seconds. Meeting ends 8:46pm.