Student Association passes bill to support Callisto, announces upcoming events
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President David Bruen and Vice President Adia Santos announced Syracuse University’s Student Association will host two events on Tuesday night — an SA Town Hall and a virtual Women’s History Month Panel.
The town hall will provide an opportunity for students to discuss on-campus issues with SA leaders at the Schine Student Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Afterwards, Bruen said, SA leaders will communicate students’ sentiments to the Board of Trustees. The event will mark the first town hall of the spring 2023 semester, and follows the fall semester’s two town hall events in September and October 2022.
Santos will moderate SA’s Women’s History Month Panel via Zoom. The panel will feature numerous accomplished women who hold leadership positions at organizations and companies like the Hispanic National Bar Association and CNN Global.
SA will also host its annual Spring into Action week from April 12 to April 23, during which SU students can engage in acts of service throughout the Syracuse community.
The week will consist of daily community service events, which include volunteering at food drives and women’s shelters. SA representative Jack McCarty announced that the week will commence with a professional clothing drive, followed by a food drive, a donation drive for the YMCA and a street clean up. Students will also have the opportunity to volunteer at Joseph’s House, a women’s shelter in the city of Syracuse.
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Jordan Beasley announced that SA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee will be sending out a survey on Tuesday, asking the LGBTQ community directly about LGBTQ engagement and resources on campus.
The assembly also passed a bill to support Callisto, a third-party, non-profit and survivor-founded organization that aims to provide a safe space on campus for people to report sexual assault. Students can anonymously upload reports to a database that keeps records safe until a person is ready to use the documents to officially report the incident.
An SU Callisto representative said with the support of SA, Callisto will be able to promote its resources with flags and signs around campus, as well as to set up events and help support other sexual assault support foundations and organizations.
Speaker of the Assembly William Treloar emphasized the importance of SA’s support in Callisto’s journey at SU.
“Last time we had a (bill) go up, one question was asked, and that was, ‘What is the next step, like what happens after we pass the bill in support of something?’” Treloar said. “What you guys just saw is exactly what well thought out concrete next steps look like. This bill is tied to incredible amounts of action and incredible amounts of advocacy. This is not just a statement, this is going to be a continued partnership that will benefit the University.”
Other Business:
The Barnes Center at the Arch will be hosting Take Back the Night, an event for the community to come together and stand against sexual and relationship violence. The event will be held in Hendrick’s Chapel on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Three other bills were also passed during Monday’s meeting, including the funding of Donuts with the Dean, Multicultural Week and Career Closet Purchases.
Voting is underway for SA’s spring 2023 elections, and will remain open through Friday, March 31 at 11:59 p.m. Students can cast their vote for SA officials and on the 2030 Carbon Neutrality Referendum via a Google Form available on SA’s website.
