SG Update 11/02

Transgender Resolution

Ryan Roy, OUTspoken vice president and third year ASL Interpreting Education major, presented the newly-drafted transgender resolution. This resolution is meant to show support to all transgender students, faculty and staff at RIT.

Sandy Johnson gave a statement on behalf of President Munson.

“RIT reaffirms its support for the transgender community," Johnson said. "We, RIT, are committed to a safe and supportive environment where all people can study, work and live. This is a core value of RIT, as we are one family. We strongly oppose any reinterpretation of Title IX that results in the elimination of protections for transgender individuals.”

The resolution also ensured that the Student Health Center will not change in response to the Trump Administration’s proposal for a redefinition of “sex."

The resolution stated:

“Be it further resolved that RIT Student Government calls for additional support from our administration, donors, trustees and other stakeholders of the University to ensure that students who are affected by the proposed changes continue to have a positive student life.”

Student Government (SG) will be working with OUTspoken, the Q Center and the Title IX Office to carry out this resolution.

Bobby Moakley, SG president and fourth year Environmental Science major, stated, “Since this is our first resolution of the year, I just want to remind everybody what this document is. A resolution of any sort just basically states Student Government’s stance on a certain issue on behalf of the student body. So, yes this is a stance of the student body, but it is not politically motivated. It is only showing support for our student body and the transgender individuals all throughout the student body.”

The resolution went to a vote and was passed unanimously.

Charges and Responses

A petition asking that SG take less than two years to respond to PawPrints was given a response. SG agreed that two years is too long to wait between updates and are attempting to be more transparent with the student body; however, they also stated that the process of working on a petition can long and require a lot of work.

A petition asking for dorm showers to be cleaned once a week was also given a response. Showers in the dorm building are actually cleaned daily Monday through Friday. If students have any issues, they are told to contact Facility Management Services.

A charge to help deaf international students transition to RIT was given by the Cross-Registered senator. The charge aims to provide a booklet of resources to the students. Global Union was added to the charge.

A petition asking to unblock Snapchat from RIT’s Wi-Fi was given a response. As it would happen, Snapchat is not blocked from the campus Wi-Fi.

Announcements

Moakley has been meeting with President Munson and Student Affairs to discuss the emotional turmoil that the RIT community is currently experiencing. Moakley met with the cabinet before the SG meeting, which resulted in a decision to support the upcoming student protest. Since the meeting on Nov. 2, SG has decided to revoke their support and pursue other means of advocating for the improvement of mental healthcare.

Senator of the month was awarded to Tayler Ruggero, SG director of programming and fifth year Criminal Justice major.

Representative Student Organization of the month was given to Global Union.

Committee of the month was given to Academics and Co-Ops.

The week of Nov. 5, 2018, the CET senator will be hosting the annual spirit week for College of Engineering and Technology.

NTID Student Congress will be hosting a happy hour event on Nov. 9, 2018 in the SAU lobby from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will involve fundraising and socializing.