The Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate introduced a resolution which promotes transparency in campus immigration policy and addresses anti-diversity, equity and inclusion remarks that were made at their previous meeting on March 26.
The Secure Act Resolution approval
Sen. Arjun Phull of the College of Science gave final remarks on his proposed Secure Act Resolution before the Senate voted on its approval. The resolution, which has not yet been officially adopted, is a method to “protect student privacy, ensure transparency in campus policy regarding immigration enforcement and uphold students’ constitutional rights on campus.”
The resolution is an explicit call from ASUA to UA President Suresh Garimella and his administration to issue an immediate public statement informing students of the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the sensitive locations policy and confirming the extent to which enforcement operations will be permitted on campus.
The resolution also calls upon the university to implement a mandatory notification system to inform students of any confirmed immigration enforcement activity near or on campus.
Aside from calling on the university, it also lays out a plan for ASUA to actively display student rights and resources in a nonpartisan method through social media, student outreach and informational events.
“Warrantless immigration enforcement operations on campus disrupt student life, invade the privacy of students, create a climate of fear, and ultimately undermine the University’s values of integrity, compassion, and inclusion,” the text of the final resolution read.
At the meeting, Phull elaborated ASUA has “an opportunity as student leaders to put pressure on the administration to act when they have not and to address information gathered when they haven’t.”
Phull further said, regarding federal policy changes, “the university has been beating around the bush.”
The Senate passed the resolution by a strong majority, with Sen. Benjamin Jackson from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences as the sole opponent.
Report from Sen. Phull in response to anti-DEI remarks by Sen. Jackson
Phull then spoke to fellow senators on his support for DEI initiatives on campus. He made clear that this report was a direct rebuttal to Jackson’s speech made at the Senate meeting on March 5, where Jackson expressed concerns for how DEI was negatively impacting white male students.
Phull first addressed Garimella’s installment that occurred on March 25. He commended the ASUA executive team for not taking part in the installation and commented he was proud of them for standing up for what they believe in. Jackson attended the installment ceremony.
“It is admirable that you spoke up about what you perceive to be a minority opinion in the Senate,” Phull said in response to Jackson’s concerns for DEI initiatives. “As a minority myself, I deeply value the freedom to express benign viewpoints.”
While Phull respected the ability to voice different opinions, he described Jackson’s statements as misleading and inaccurate.
Phull initially focused on Jackson’s criticism of the Men of Color initiative for excluding white males. Phull explained that the initiative is open to all students who wish to join and participate.
“It simply provides a cohort for those who identify as men of color, enabling them to engage with peers who share similar backgrounds and experiences,” Phull said.
Phull then critiqued the context provided by Jackson on statistics of graduation rates between white male and men of color students.
“These differences become even more pronounced when you consider the graduation rates of individual racial groups, not simply men of color lumped together. We’re not a monolith,” Phull said. “Historically and systemically, students of color have faced barriers such as an unequal access to quality education, fewer economic resources and limited support systems.”
Phull went against Jackson’s description of equity and explained that this concept is not the same as equality.
“Equity is not about identical treatment. It’s about responding to specific measurable disparities,” Phull said. He used an analogy of shoe sizes and said “equality is giving everyone the same pair of shoes, equity is giving everyone shoes that actually fit their feet.”
Phull also commented on Jackson’s argument that white men at the university are not offered resources in the way that men of color have cultural resource centers. Phull explained that there are resources on campus like MASCulinity, which helps to support primarily white male students.
“I’d argue that DEI programs ensure that we are all winners, achieving the success we deserve with targeted support for those who need it more than others,” Phull said. “When minorities win, we all win.”
He then discussed Jackson’s approach of neutralizing cultural resource centers.
“Suggesting we drop the cultural ties of resource centers in favor of a similarly functioning non cultural solution leads me to believe that your gripe is with the cultural ties themselves,” Phull said. “I’m not sure how celebrating the rich cultures of students at the university is somehow detrimental to other students on campus, especially when CRCs are open to all students on campus.”
Phull then reminded fellow senators of some of the UA’s unfortunate history.
Some of the history Phull shared included the fact that Black students did not graduated from the university until 1933, nearly 50 years from its founding.
Black students were barred from participating in school athletics until 1946. They faced restrictions on attending social events, residing on campus, accessing the campus pool and dining in the Student Union Memorial Center. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Movements, about 80 years after the founding of the university, that these practices began to be dismantled.
“DEI initiatives are not arbitrary racial preferences, they are evidence based interventions responding to documented inequities,” Phull said, closing out his report.
Sen. Elizabeth Wilson’s report on contextualizing statistics for effective leadership
College of Engineering Sen. Elizabeth Wilson presented her report on making important changes in research. Much of her presentation was in the scope of women in STEM.
“Women are severely underrepresented in engineering and they leave degree programs as well as the industry at a really astounding rate,” Wilson said.
Wilson explained how women are two times more likely than men to leave the profession of engineering.
This does not include leaving to start a family, but rather leaving in search of a different profession. Wilson explained how when entering the professional world of engineering, women are the first on the team to be given administrative tasks, such as writing the minutes of meetings or making phone calls. Wilson described that as undermining.
Wilson also explained that women in engineering often receive derogatory comments, such as male peers focusing on their appearances when they win important awards.
“That kind of language really minimizes what women are doing in the workforce,” Wilson said.
Wilson further states how diversity helps everyone involved. Wilson detailed how this is due to the inclusion of more perspectives in decision-making.
Wilson then laid out a three step process that can provide meaningful change to account for disparities. To display these steps, she also offered up Jackson’s report from the March 5 Senate meeting.
As Wilson described, step one is engaging with communities. She acknowledged that Jackson completed this step by expressing his concerns with DEI to the rest of the ASUA Senate.
Wilson then said that step two is identifying hardships through data. Wilson also recognized Jackson’s data and explained that while looking at the numbers alone, he had a point that white male students were struggling with graduation rates.
What Jackson failed to account for, according to Wilson, is step three of implementing change. Wilson claimed that Jackson did not properly take into account data that has been provided.
In response to Jackson’s concerns of white men were graduating at lower rates than men of color, Wilson detailed that 39% of white men who do not have a college degree claim that they just didn’t want to complete the degree. Additionally, 30% of white men simply did not believe that they needed their college degree to accelerate their career. On the other hand, 52% of Hispanic adults claimed that they could not afford to complete their degrees.
Jackson’s report was “negating and ignoring the systemic barriers felt by certain students,” Wilson said.
“Statistically white men do not get a degree because of attitude or personal choices, whereas men of color have to leave their college degree due to financial barriers or taking care of family,” Wilson said.
She further detailed a phenomenon called male flight. This is a theory that men have begun to leave historically prestigious institutions and programs because of the growing number of women who are joining.
‘I Will’ campaign funding
The Senate then had a brief discussion on proposed funding of $1,775 for shirts, buttons and stickers for the “I Will” campaign, starting in April. “I Will” is a student-led initiative to help with sexual assault on campus. ASUA will be working on the campaign in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Senators did not yet vote on the approval of this funding.
During the Administrative Vice President privileges of the Senate meeting, AVP Alicia Hall discussed some events that will be held in April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
There will be a panel on sexual assault awareness, a healthy relationship workshop in collaboration with Feminists Organized to Resist, Create and Empower and potentially a self-defense workshop that ASUA is still working on.
There will also be a 5k run/walk on April 2 with a free resource fair and candlelight vigil. Registration for the 5k can be found on ASUA’s social media pages and website.
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