Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Mike Barbaran, president of DKE:

Makes emotional presentation about what he feels a fraternity is: brotherhood, practical business training, debate skills, young men and personal development, teamwork, etc… Since 1864. Many accomplished Alumni.

Mike says that when he pledged, he had to write an essay. He says he was happy to write. DKE has done programs in the past (not many people know about these).

Beta:

Brent Taylor, president: Beta is under extreme financial pressure, particularly in ResLife. Mission statement for Beta states explicitly to develop "MEN of principle." If Beta were to continue its programs such as the lecture series, it needs to be represented by WSA.

Ethnic Council is present.

Pres. of Psi U: Since 1843. House is the first house in the US built for a fraternity. Was a program house last year, but could not maintain that status. Guiding principal: self-governance. If they decide to be coed, would want to become coed without outside pressure, when ready. Wants WSA support for the right to exist for Greek organizations.

Stack

Proposal for WSA resolution for the support of Greek organizations (proposed by Psi U).

Original Proposal

presented by Psi U Reads:

 "We, the Wesleyan Student Assembly, believe that Greek life and Greek
 organizations have been, are, and will continue to be an integral part
 of the Wesleyan community that enhances the overall quality and breadth
 of the Wesleyan experience."

Nathan Ratner asks if the frat reps could talk about what consequences they foresee by WSA passing this resolution. DKE rep says that he's glad that there is student support, Psi U rep adds that this would make alumni happy.

Friendly Amendment: David Wiener says that the statement is toothless, change "will continue" to "must continue." Change made.

Annie Fox says that she's not comfortable supporting this statement, she feels that fraternities have a right to exist, but are not necessarily good. Current statement has the implications that frats are a valuable thing for the campus, and this is not necessarily true in the opinion of many.

Doug from Sigma says that WSA is working for students. Most people are overlooking programs done by frats and sororities.

Matt Ball asks what this statement would do. Seems completely pointless. Thought the big issue was housing—this statement does not accomplish that goal.

Anda asks if either of the deans would comment. Dean Maria doesn't think she knows enough. Dean Rick says that there are a few issues: program housing, recognition, etc… would like to sort through those issues, then vote on a resolution.

Jessie Watson says that WSA recognition of fraternities is a WSA constitutional issue;, housing issues would come after the resolution.

Brent (Beta Representative) says that this statement would be support from the student body, articulate the impact of the issue, not just inter-frats, but whole student body at large.

Mike from DKE says that administration is limiting self-governance of student groups, not just housing (pertains to Greek organizations without houses). Says admin is telling them that they can't exist, i.e. "we're just not going to let you exist."

Garth Mitchell says that the resolution would consolidate fraternities and sororities, and deal with problems as a single unit. Talks about some programs and good stuff that's been done by DKE and other Greek organizations in the past.

Benedict Bernstein says that the statement does not address the issue directly. Came up with: unconditional right for Greek organizations to be treated fairly, and that the Administration has failed in this. Psi U representatives who brought the resolution to the WSA are is skeptical. The current statement places moral implications on frats, which is controversial.

Gabe Tabak says that the resolution isn't a value statement on "goodness" but "integral-ness." Current University policy toward fraternities is bad for money and fundraising, because it pisses the fraternity alumni off.

Psi U rep says that the resolution really focuses on the benefits of frats for members and the Wesleyan community at large.

Sam Ruth says that the resolution would be very valuable to the frats, would like to suggest "and must have the right to continue to exist as a part of the Wesleyan community."

Anda Greeny says that language is important.

Annie Fox says that the student body does not believe that the frats are valuable. Would like to take off the word "valuable." Psi U would like to keep the word.

Xiaoxi Tu asks what the administration's current stance is. Maria Cruz Saco says that admin and residential life decided that all program houses should be inclusive. Organizations that have mission statements that have exclusive membership is are not consistent with housing policy.

Dave Woo asks whether accepting all students ina house having an inclusive mMission statement is enough to befor the house to be recognized, if the mission statement doesn't reflect the actual composition of the house. Maria Cruz Saco says there will be emphasis placed on the mission statement.

Pres. of DKE clarifies: feels that DKE has been told that it can only be a program house if they actively recruit women, even if their mission statement was inclusive.

Emily Malkin says that the biggest issue is that frats discriminate women.

Monica Arduini asks what the issues regarding Greek life are, besides housing. Frat representative respond with issues concerning Pledging policies, uniforms, underage drinkingetc…

Dave Knapp says that members believe frats are valuable, makes analogy with German house. Value is a Personal choice.

Benedict says that the statement shifts the question away from administration policies towards frats, to what the WSA thinks about Greek organizations. Fairness vs. goodness. Sam Ruth says that fairness is subjective as well.

Matt Ball says that fraternities have the right to exist right now, but all that the university is concerned with right now is housing policies. Annie Fox says that it's true, except for Beta. Matt also says that WSA should support frats whether or not it's valuable. Supports taking "valuable" off. Psi U accepts.

Portia from Zeta asks about the difference between frats and sororities and Women of Color house, etc (rhetorical question?)… Says that frats and sororities bridge the gap between Wes and Middletown community.

Brent from Beta says that we should define who these organizations are valuable for, not an overall value statement.

Zach Blau suggests "for many students." Psi U says that it's implied value for some students, not all. German house analogy, again. Enhances breadth and quality.

Jason Harris says that it's not a question of value, but rights. All student groups on campus are valuable. Asks how frats would like to increase awareness of their programs.

Pres. of DKE makes abstract plans for "getting the word out."

Dave Woo says that there seems to be only two issues, just pick a side.

Garth Mitchell says that the biggest issues are COCo recognition and residential life. This resolution would give Greek organizations support to tackle all issues.

Sigma rep says Greek is valuable to the entire community, not just specific students.

Lambda rep: "must have the right to continue to operate to enhance the breadth, etc…" Rejected.

Emily Malkin says that this would not be the end of the discussion regardless of whether or not this is passed.

Gabe Tabak: "historically distinctive and valuable." Accepted.

Benedict Bernstein: "treated fairly by admin" Rejected.

Dave Wiener: "with the support of the university." Accepted.

Annie Fox: change valuable to integral. Accepted.

Motion to pass resolution: passed by majority, with two abstentions and two nays.

Committee Reports

All personal pronouns refer to the particular committee or committee chair.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (chair: Jesse Watson)

The Executive Committee made presentations this week to President Bennet and the Dean of the College staff. We also met this week and discussed fraternities. Jesse and Gabe will meet with them this Saturday prior to the Full Assembly meeting.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE (chair: Emily Malkin)

-Website stuff is still proceeding, slowly but surely

-Xiaoxi is working on making laminated signs to hang up around Wesleyan's campus to permanently advertise for WSA meetings

-Ashley is working on archiving WSA documents for institutional memory –We flyered!

-Beginning to talk about Constitutional Review Committee stuff

-Notable members of the Week: Garth Mitchell, Sam Ruth, Anda Greeny

STUDENT BUDGETARY COMMITTEE (chair: Matt Ball)

The Student Budget Committee met on Monday to allocate funds as part of our weekly meeting. Most of the groups who came in were asking for money for the International Food Fair – this year, the SBC decided to deal with each group individually instead of giving a lump sum to PANGEA. In addition, we finalized the budget for WESU after we had deferred some of their costs from their initial request and allocated money to their new concert counterpart, WESUE. Among some of the other groups that came in for money were Men's Water Polo and the Club Ice Hockey team.

We had a discussion on Sunday morning concerning our policies for allocating money, and we intend to present a new set of criteria for this. Since it is so recent, however, we will be able to present a report at the meeting.

Lastly, the website and the lockbox system have been undergoing a lot of changes. The website should be pretty soon, and the lockbox, although it will take longer, has a lot of potential to make allocations a lot easier and increase transparency. Both of these will be presented to the assembly when they are completed.

Guidelines and principals for allocations.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH COMMITTEE (chair: Annie Fox)

Next week is a big week for COCo, on Wednesday we plan on printing

The November COCo yellow pages,

the student leader guide book and also we will be having the student forum on the diversity dean that day or the next. We are also having our first PSAC meeting on Tuesday.

In new efforts we are looking into ways to encourage student leaders to partner with local community leaders, to create more reslife-student group cooperation, and Keith and I are hoping to have a big activist raining session for groups hoping to lobby the administration effectively.

EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE (chair: Sam Ruth)

Here are the big topics that EPC is working on currently:

1.Advising

2.Pre-Registration

3.Grant for Educational Innovation

4.Alumni Lectures

5.SARN

1.Advising: We're currently setting up an online advising questionnaire that will be posted on the WSA website. This will be availible for every student to access and fill out, but the dates it will be up have not yet been set. To publicize this questionnaire, we will be sending out a mass e-mail to students and stuffing mailboxes with information. We're also working to preempt future advising problems by making sure frosh are better paired with their pre-major advisor. We're going to push for a reformatting of the way that frosh get paired with an advisor and make the process more transparent. I (Sam Ruth) have continued to discuss the possibility of Peer Advising with Billy Weitzer. We are looking into how we might form a cadre of well-trained peer advisors that would probably operate through SARN (the student academic resources network).

2.Pre-registration: I discussed the problem of flexibility in the proposed pre-registration system with Anna Van den Burg of the office of the registrar. I proposed an idea that would offer students more freedom in choosing their classes, and Anna gave her support. This new system was later ratified by the student/faculty EPC.

3.Grant for Educational Innovation: This is a new idea that was inspired by a grant offered annually to faculty. The student EPC is looking into the possibility of offering grants to students who come up with innovative ways to improve Wesleyan education (or perhaps in a broader sense). This is a long-term project.

4.Alumni Lectures: The idea of bringing Wes. Alumni back to campus to give guest lectures in classes was brought up during the Trustee retreat. The student EPC is excited about the possibility, and it has met with some support from the administration as well. This is also a long-term project, but it could be a hugely beneficial program for the university.

5.SARN: COCo member Jason Harris has been discussing SARN with Renee Johnson-Thornton (a SARN administrator) and has suggested that she give a presentation to the WSA on SARN's possibilities. After some discussion, it appears that Billy Weitzer, possibly Maria Cruz-Saco and the other administrators who work with SARN would like to be a part of such a presentation. They are currently slated to appear at the WSA meeting of November 20th.

INDEPENDENT PROJECTS COMMITTEE (chair: Monica Arduini)

1. Last chance to join the CRC Advisory Committee. It's seriously great for reasons that I am not allowed to disclose. Email me if you'd like to join. We talked about improvements in the CRC that have been made (e.g. more alumni contact, more student visitors, etc). Let me know if you have any issues, positive or negative, that should be raised to the CRC.

2. Emergency Loan Fund Committee (Zach, Katie, me) met with Jose Marantes and learned the basic structure of the loan process. We will meet later in the semester to gradually take over the process.

3. Anda is working on Ruckus promotion.

4. ITS Advisory Committee will meet on Friday.

STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE (chair: Rafael Medrano)

SAC Committee Report October 30, 2005

Queer Task Force:

Met this Friday and talked about the Queer Retreat. There will be a planning meeting this Monday at the QRC at 10 PM.

-The Transgender group met with Dean Cruz-Saco to update her on the history of Gender Neutral Housing. It was clear that the petition process to request to live in a gender neutral space needs to be reviewed. This is something the QTF along with the Trans gender group will tackle.

-Chalking-We will not forget it

-The QTF/QRC needs funding to update the websites.

-Trans gender students pushing to get hormone therapy from the health center

-Planning for a Gender Neutral bathroom campus tour

The QTF also expressed some concerns with the OBHS, in regards as to the need of a more diverse group of therapists. It is the student perception that there is only one good therapist.

The URLC met on Thursday and had an amazing meeting. Present: Rafael Medrano, Whitney Matthews, Gabe Tabak, Garth Mitchell, Kim Lam, Gian Ishino, Matt Johnson, Robin Hershkowitz, Dean Mike Whaley, Jeff Miller, Fran Koerting, Nya Roy

Guests: Traverse Square Tutors Ethna Riley and Leah Cappellucci, Cathy Crimmins Lechowicz director of the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, Dave Myer of Public Safety, Area Coordinator of LoRise/HiRse Sharise Brown

I) We established that the meeting was to share information from all parties involved rather than to have a debate. Dave Myer explained that the railing's purpose is to redirect pedestrian traffic away from the lorise courtyard. The goal is to increase safety in the LoRises by enclosing the area. This would make it easier to monitor who is on the premise and to promote community-building within LoRise. He also spoke about the liability issue concerning the 4 ft. drop to the ground. The construction of the railing will comply with (building) code regulations. The Lorise area is not the only place where fences have been built to comply with the Code (for example in the Butterfield courtyard).

Leah informed those present that Traverse Square residents are reluctant to come into Wesleyan property; they fear that if they do that they will "get in trouble." She advised that the URLC be aware of the perception that the fence will have on traverse sq. residents (it becomes a clear division between the Wesleyan Community and Traverse sq).

Both Leah and Dave Myer agreed that there is a concern about non-Traverse Sq. residents loitering in the area.

There were two good suggestions:

1) that the fence be placed closer to the courtyard. It was pointed out that for Wesleyan it is just a 42-inch railing, but that for traverse sq. residents it become a 7 Ft divide. (Potential consequences of the railing: can be climbed by children in Traverse Sq. The fall is now more dangerous than before. Also, the redirection of pedestrians, redirects children into the street).

2) To replace the use of a rail with plants to prevent people falling over the edge and to redirect pedestrian traffic. It also beautifies the space.

The URLC thinks that the opinion from the Wesleyan Community should not fall on the current residents and Residential advisors. It was suggested that aside from holding an open forum/meeting to discuss the issue, Student Residential Staff should pass along information to their residents so everyone on campus, past and future residents of LoRise/HiRise are in the loop of things.

II)

The URLC received an update on the security fence to be constructed behind the Foss Hill dormitories. All of the residents of the Nicolsons and Fauver residents were contacted via-Email informing them with details about the fence. It appears that everyone is 'okay' with having a fence behind the dorms for safety issues.

Dave Myer mentioned that thieves use the wooded area to hide items stolen from Wesleyan property. The fence seems a good way to deter thieves from using the area to store their stolen good and as easy access to the Foss hill residents.

III)

Gabe Tabak presented Major Maintenance request

-Sidewalk leveled in front of Olin

-Sidewalk construction by the wall of Westco near Weshop

-More blue phones on Church Street.

IV)

Cable Service: Currently Comcast is doing an audit of the campus cable service. Due to the archaic cable system it will take until next summer to fix the problem. Everyone on campus will have basic cable. In the mean while all common areas will receive extended cable services

V) Fran and I divided the URLC tasks into three different categories: Physical changes, Feedback and Policy/Reports. Next week we will create a timeline for all of the tasks and start assigning individuals to tackle certain tasks.

Finally:

Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4:00 in the Registrar's Conference Room with some members of Buddhist House to discuss the relocation. Mike Whaley and Peter Patton will be attending as well.

Garth Mitchell in the SAC representative dealing with Fraternity issues. So if you have any questions or concerns…you know who to go to. Nate Ratner, our OBHS contact person, will be meeting with Mike Butterfield—students spearheading petition regarding changes in OBHS.

FINANCES AND FACILITIES COMMITTEE (chair: Gabe Tabak)

The dining committee met. This week's meeting will focus on reviewing last year's surveys, hearing from EON about environmental concerns, and beginning work on the new vision of dining for the University Center.

URLC also met. The administrators were receptive to student input on major maintenance and Foss renovation suggestions. We also heard from Traverse Square tutors and Public Safety about their opinions of the fence. The committee will meet again in two weeks to discuss the Lorise/Traverse Square

fence.

Stack:

Jesse Watson asks if the fence decision would… (sorry)

Whitney Matthews says: set up a meeting timethere is a forum to discuss the hi-rise/lo-rise wall with residents of traverse square on Monday, No.7, 7pm in HiRise lounge.

Anda Greeny asks if health center would be paying for hormone therapy for transgendered students. Raffi responds that the option is not available right now, not payment.

Emily Malkin reminds everyone to fill out the WSA profile questionnaire.

New Business and Announcements

SAC stays behind.

Nya Roy: Monday, Nov. 7, 7pm HiRise lounge. Spread the word (snacks), especially frosh and sophomores.

COCo stay.

Anda Greeny asks how many people read the general WSA email. Roughly 80%

Dave Woo clarifies that he is not a member of the class of 2006, even if Argus says so.

Emily Malkin asks if hard copies of committee reports are useful. Will print 10-15 next week.

Adjournment: 8:58pm

Respectfully submitted,

Xiaoxi Tu, WSA Secretary