Two guest speakers, a senator appointment, five appeals and two and a half hours made up this week’s Senate meeting.
The first speaker was Fatima Rodriguez Johnson, the associate dean for diversity and inclusion at Canisius. Rodriguez Johnson presented on the college’s new racial equity plan. This plan contains six elements such as community, recruitment and retention, as well as how Canisius will work on developing “cross-racial relationships.” Another part of the plan is the creation of a race and ethnic studies major at Canisius, which has already been approved by the Academic Program Board and is thought to be awaiting President Hurley’s approval. Rodriguez Johnson also reported that the college had completed an anti-racism examination, the results of which showed that the college should “identify a policy annually to deconstruct anti-racially.”
The second speaker of the meeting was Dr. Sara Morris, vice president of academic affairs. Dr. Morris wanted the Senate’s support in the college’s decision to join in on Laudato si’. Laudato si’ is a seven-year initiative issued by the Vatican to make sustainability a priority and to make college campuses more sustainable. Nov. 14 is the due date for Canisius to sign this agreement and establish with the Vatican. Dr. Morris said that President Hurley stressed the importance of getting students on board for this initiative to be successful. Due to Hurley’s concern, Dr. Morris asked the Senate to write a statement of affirmation to show support and a willingness to be involved. The Senate expressed intentions of writing a resolution on the issue soon.
Ariana Afshani, a junior political science major, was appointed to the Senate by a majority vote as a junior senator. Along with this, there were five appeals that were passed as recommended by the Finance Board. These appeals were from RHA, CSA, SAAC, C-Block and EuroSim.