The resolutions discussed at this week’s Student Association Senate meeting were good examples of real results starting to come from student action.
Following the student protests after the racist Snapchat incident last February, much possible change has been discussed with some moves being made.
Those steps were highlighted at the Senate meeting Wednesday, with both the proposed revisions to the student code of conduct and the SA’s resolution calling for a change in the SUNY Display of the Flag policy representing steps in the right direction.
The revisions to the code of conduct proposed by Vice President of Student Affairs Bryan Hartman and Director of Student Conduct Larry Allen represent improvement when it comes to punishing hate-related crimes while additionally strengthening punishments for sexual violence cases.
Now we have to do our part and make the effort to read the thing. We need to make sure that we know what is expected of us, what we should expect from others and what we may still need to ask of the administration.
The SA’s resolution calling for a change to the current SUNY Display of the Flag Policy shows palpable results in a different sense.
One move that the current PSUC administration did make was the placement of the rainbow flag and Black Lives Matter flag in the Angell College Center, a move that violates current SUNY policy.
The SA’s push for a SUNY-wide change to that policy that would allow campuses to display flags meaningful to themselves is a significant symbolic step forward.
SA President Jessica Falace and Executive Vice President Kristin Berkey will travel to the Spring 2018 SUNY SA Conference this weekend to present the topic for possible SUNY-wide adoption.
All of the SA deserves credit for keeping this issue alive in the minds of administrators, but we need to make sure we do our part in that. Hopefully this resolution will pass, but we have to make sure it is known that it is only a start.
