In the Associated Students of Colorado State University weekly report sent Feb. 7, Speaker of the Senate Kyle Hill addressed students about the previous senate session Jan. 26, regarding an incident of racial bias within the senate space.

During questioning time for candidate Graham Avers, who was running for speaker pro tempore, Senator Lizzy Osterhoudt asked what Avers was going to do to make sure Greek life has a positive impact on the ASCSU senate space, given its negative history: “Within ASCSU, Greek life has heavily dominated our space and made it a toxic space, leading to, like, different notions of white supremacy, … and we’re currently trying to fight that, so what are you going to do to change that?” Osterhoudt asked.

After this, Senator Rithik Correa motioned to suspend Osterhoudt’s speaking rights.

The senate then discussed Osterhoudt’s speaking rights, to which Osterhoudt said, “First of all, I am feeling very silenced as an Indigenous woman in this space. All of my questions were in order, and if you want to check your facts, check your emails.”

Correa ultimately rescinded the motion.

In Hill’s remarks in the weekly report, he stated, “We must ensure that white supremacy will never be allowed to dominate our space again. I do hope that we can move forward in serving our community and our constituents, which has always been and will continue to be our goal.”

He also included a list of steps he will be taking to become a better speaker. Some of these steps included not entertaining motions that silence others as well as attending a minimum of five Student Diversity Programs and Services events per month.

Reach Katrina Leibee at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @katrinaleibee.