The Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate discussed and approved a resolution on Oct. 15, opposing the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence that was sent to nine universities, including the University of Arizona.
Following the meeting on Oct. 20, UA President Suresh Garimella sent a campus-wide email in reference to the proposed compact. Garimella announced that the UA would not sign the compact as currently written, although they will send a statement to the Department of Education, which is a “contribution toward a national conversation about the future relationship between universities and the federal government,” Garimella said in his email.
Call to audience
Two students from UA Students for Socialism spoke to the ASUA Senate during a call to the audience on their Oct. 15 meeting. Desiree Nguyen and Arian Chavez argued that the senate should announce a public opposition to the compact and help build the gap between elected student representatives and student activists.
“I want to ask the members of ASUA, what comes next?” Chavez said. “What happens after this resolution is passed or not? Because, unfortunately, regardless of the mass popular support for the rejection of this compact, Garimella can still decide to not listen to the voices of faculty and students.”
Chavez continued to emphasize the importance of advocating for students’ voices in matters concerning the UA. He urged the senate members to reject the compact, as their voice is critical to bringing attention to students’ opinions on the compact.
Nguyen also urged ASUA to reject this compact and spoke on behalf of student organizers and activists on campus.
“There are hundreds of student organizers and activists that have been silenced and targeted by the same administration that claims to support us,” Nguyen said. “We’re now left to navigate these life-changing occurrences that can affect both their career and life beyond college.”
Nguyen proposed that activists and ASUA can present a united front to better represent and advocate for students and make their voices heard.
“Not only must change be enacted by the very senators in this hall, but we must recognize that change must also be enacted every day in the streets, in the classrooms, in the workplace by everyday people who care and unite together,” Nguyen said.
ASUA Discussion on Rejection Statement
The senate then began their presentation and discussion on at-large Senator Eddie Barrón’s proposed resolution to oppose the Trump administration compact.
Barrón presented a rough draft of the resolution, with College of Nursing Senator Emma Stanek and College of Pharmacy Senator Riley Haveman as co-sponsors.
The statement formally rejected the compact and also reaffirmed ASUA Senate’s commitment to stand in solidarity with UA students, protect academic independence and freedom of thought and advocate for the student groups that are targeted by this compact.
“I think it’s really important that now more than ever, we really highlight the fact that college campuses and universities across the nation really have been a space where all discourse, regardless of the party, or ideology has been welcomed, and I think that it’s up to us,” Barrón said.
The senate agreed that this statement must be written in a way that expresses all viewpoints and concerns of students across the university, and that the senate must remain nonpartisan.
“This is a large campus representing a variety of differing viewpoints,” Executive Vice President Benjamin Huffman said. “An affront to one student on this campus is an affront to every student, and what this compact is doing is allowing a separate entity detached from the university to establish what our principles are and who we stand up for.”
College of Information Science Senator Humza Sheikh proposed amending the statement in order to include more details about the minority groups the UA serves.
The senate decided to amend the statement to include the fact that the UA is a land-grant institution as well as a Hispanic Serving Institution. The amendment clarifies that both of these minority groups on campus would be directly impacted by the passing of this compact, with changes to DEI policies that would be enacted.
College of Science Senator Elizabeth Ghartey proposed amendments to verbiage used in the statement and a clause warning about future implications and misuse of this compact by the federal government, which were both passed.
“I think if we could communicate with students across the board from a nonpartisan perspective, that intimidating behavior seen in the compact could be used against them by future federal administration, would help to justify our stance,” Ghartey said.
After more discussion and clarification on the resolution, the senate voted on the statement to reject the Trump administration compact. The resolution was passed with a 17-1 vote with 1 abstained vote. The resolution will now be sent to Garimella for review before being released to the public.
Appropriations and Committee Reports
The Appropriations committee shared progress on approving budgets for the on campus clubs. The committee received a total request of $46,924 from ASUA and the amount approved was $26,498.
The Internal Affairs committee and Senate amended the ASUA constitution to change the threshold and votes needed in order to approve anything concerning ASUA’s budget. This would raise the number of votes needed from a previous simple majority.
Projects and Outreach committee also reminded the senate that events for UA Alcohol Awareness week begin Oct. 20.
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