By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed an initiative to retain the College’s current Title IX policy and a resolution to condemn the exclusion of transgender people from serving in the armed forces at its weekly meeting on Oct. 25.
SG’s first initiative of the semester presents a formal stance to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that the College wishes to keep its current implementation of Title IX in place to support victims and survivors of sexual assault. The initiative was proposed by Abigail Moor, vice executive chair of Women In Leadership and Learning and a junior special education and women’s, gender and sexuality studies double major.
“We, the students of The College of New Jersey, believe Secretary DeVos’ decision to dismiss the previous standard of proof in favor of a less stringent adjudication process strays away from the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of victims and survivors of sexual violence,” the initiative read.
The initiative won the majority vote and was passed.
Resolution F-2017-05, which condemns the president’s decision to exclude transgender people from the military, was reintroduced by Suchir Govindarajan, a freshman economics major.
“I think we should be able to weigh in when we can and I think this is a perfect opportunity to. I know transgender people who are in the military and serve in the army and I, 100 percent, am behind this resolution,” said Juan Carlos Belmonte, a sophomore accounting major and student in the College’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
After a friendly amendment was added to the title of this resolution, it was passed.
Alvin Tran, a sophomore psychology major and SG’s vice president of operations for the sophomore class council, reintroduced resolution F-2017-04 to bring back the mints from the previous academic year to dining locations on campus.
Carly Mauro, SG’s vice president and a junior mathematics and statistics major, urged SG members to take the initiative to meet with the College’s director of dining services, Karen Roth, to find out if she is receptive to changing the mints before implementing this resolution.
“The resolution should be more of a pushing force to help you but I think you really need to lay that foundation first,” Mauro said.
Ultimately, this resolution did not win the majority vote and did not pass.
Shrish Jawadiwar, a freshman political science major, won the election to become SG’s new parliamentarian. His new role includes maintaining rules and proper procedures for conduct at SG meetings.
Vineeth Amba, a sophomore biology major and senator for the School of Science, proposed bill F-2017-10 to offer program participation points to SG members for community involvement in the Trenton and Ewing areas.
This bill was proposed to foster community engagement with SG members representing the College. This bill will be voted on at SG’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The College’s Counseling and Psychological Services hired a new staff therapist with experience in working with minority populations and with a focus in diversity and inclusion. CAPS also hired peer educators to focus on health and wellness, according to the committee of strategic planning and priorities.
Tyler McGilligan, a junior physical education major, reported meeting with Campus Police regarding the shooting near campus last week.
Campus Police will continue to patrol the area and stated that if students need assistance getting around campus, they are more than willing to help — however, off campus housing is not within Campus Police’s jurisdiction.
Students can use the blue light system to contact Campus Police in case of emergency. Campus Police is currently looking into getting key fobs so they can respond to calls quicker, according to McGilligan.
