Editor’s Note: This article was updated June 18, 2020, at 8:50 a.m.
The Associated Students of Colorado State University passed a resolution condemning acts of racism, following recent bias incidents that occurred in the CSU community and nationwide protests for the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Resolution 4927, titled “Say Their Names,” aims to stand in complete solidarity with the Black community at CSU and across the nation, according to the author Diego Tovar, a senator for the Warner College of Natural Resources.
The resolution was expedited and passed with unanimous consent during ASCSU’s emergency senate session hosted via Zoom Wednesday night.
The resolution suggests several action items, including:
- Opening channels of communication for activist groups, minority and “traditionally Black” organizations
- Rolling over additional student government funds into on-campus community organizations and nonprofits that focus on the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives.
- Regular meetings between CSUPD, ASCSU and the CSU administration to ensure safety and accountability
- Working with Student Affairs to release surveys to the CSU community pertaining to racism on campus
- Working with Student Affairs to create a database of reported racially-biased incidents
Elezabeth Alem, a senator for the Black/African American Cultural Center, said she was disappointed that the ASCSU administration had not put out a formal message addressing the resolution.
“I wish we were moving away from performative activism and more towards institutional change,” Alem said. “I hope that’s something everyone considers moving forward instead of us utilizing these resolutions to check off us actually doing something.”
ASCSU President Ben Amundson said that a lot of people act more performative during these times. He also said that “performative politics” is one of the big problems ASCSU faces.
“Sometimes resolutions don’t do anything,” Amundson said. “I like that there are action items on this resolution. A lot of times this is performative, and I do think there needs to be more action than just acting.”
ASCSU also pushed forward a bill to amend associate justice stipends that passed unanimously. The bill increases supreme court associate justice stipends from $500 per academic year to $1300, reflecting increases in minimum wage in Colorado.
A resolution titled “Racial Incident and Discipline Recommendation” was set to be discussed but was pulled from the floor by the author.
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Noah Pasley can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @PasleyNoah.
