Keeping Up with ASG: Week 3

Senate continues to welcome new clubs; discusses diversity, genderneutral restrooms and alcoholMeghan McLaughlinThe Santa ClaraOctober 12, 2017Discussion at the most recent Associated Student Government (ASG) meeting surrounded topics including the recording of ASG congregations and student clubs seeking Registered Student Organization (RSO) status. In the past, ASG has hired the university’s Media Services to film Senate meetings and archive the footage in the library. Currently, there is no formal recording of the sessions beyond the agenda minutes document published online each week. There was discussion of requiring outside sources to formally request permission to record meetings, while some student senators argued that ASG should maintain an open attitude to the community and not enforce restrictions on the documentation of ASG Senate. Debate on this topic will continue at the week four meeting. Six clubs presented to gain RSO status at this meeting and five received approval by the Senate. Additionally, two clubs that presented at the week two meeting were voted into RSO status. West Side Swing, a club formed around a type of improvised swing dancing, presented and was granted RSO status. The President, Morgan Myers, will teach this style of dance at future club meetings. Myers and club manager, Beshoy Eskarous, hope this club will facilitate a social community for students of any skill level to join. Campus just became healthier with the addition of SCU Mindfulness, a club started by Alex Perlman and Francie McCall with the goal of becoming a space for student-led health outreach. To achieve a healthier and happier campus, Perlman and McCall plan on using yoga instructors and specialists to promote meditation and overall healthy habits. Santa Clara is gaining a Mock Trial RSO at the urging of first-years Maria Parker and Mary Balestreri. The competitive portion of the team will compete with other college teams, while a noncompetitive portion will compete amongst themselves. The Student Art League also presented to the ASG Senate. Members of the club, like presenter Ciaran Freeman, are planning on hosting exhibitions and making museum, gallery and studio visits with the club. Students interested in pre-health can now put those interests toward a national fraternity. The Pre-Health Professional Club will form under the leadership of sophomores Laura Hollison and Kira Palazzo. Student clubs that presented at the previous meetings and just gained RSO status include Skills for Good, a club centered on solving two pressing problems a month, and the Pool and Billiards Club, an organized way to play pool with other students on campus. The Senate also hosted a guest speaker, Raymond Plaza, the director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. He spoke on the current plans of the Task Force for Diversity and Inclusion and explained the history of his office’s formation in 2014 and the creation of Unity 4 a year later. Plaza then moved on to discuss the current project that University President Michael Engh, S.J. began in 2016, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. This document consists of about 175 different strategies to address issues the university faces with regards to building a safe, diverse campus. Plaza posed the question of whether Santa Clara could offer needblind admission, a policy in which the university would not consider an applicant’s financial situation when deciding admisson. ASG President Jack Herstam mentioned the possibility of installing gender-neutral bathrooms in the future engineering building, with summer of 2018 as the estimated start of construction for this project. Herstam also brought up the new NCAA West Coast Conference alcohol policy update that now leaves it up to individual schools to serve alcohol at sporting events to students of age.Currently, alcohol is not permitted within Buck Shaw Stadium nor the Leavey Center. Neither venues sell alcohol at events. According to Herstam, the university is considering serving alcohol at select events to attendees who are of age, with the intent to enhance the spectator experience. This idea was initially brought up at a recent University Policy Committee meeting. The ASG Senate will meet again during week four on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the California Mission Room. Contact Meghan McLaughlin at mmclaughlin@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852