Student Council unanimously passed a bill calling on the University to create a system promoting disaster relief efforts for Hurricane Helene, as well as explored the possibility of collaborating with the University Democrats to contribute to their Hurricane Helene fundraiser, at their General Body meeting Tuesday. Additionally, Student Council heard updates on the ongoing Menstrual Product Project, a partnership between the Student Council and the Women’s Center aimed at offering free menstrual products in dorms.
Ian Travis, second-year College Rep., introduced legislation calling on the University to establish and promote a system for members of the University community to donate to Hurricane Helene relief efforts. This initiative follows Student Council’s previous proposal to donate $1,000 as a response to the disaster, which has since been reworked to focus on connecting the University community with fundraising efforts. Travis’ bill passed unanimously.
Travis said that this bill could serve as a catalyst for the Student Council to engage in relief efforts for a disaster that has affected many within the University community.
“I've talked to dozens of [constituents] who've been impacted by [the hurricane],” Travis said. “I think it allows us to have the wiggle room to use Student Council resources to help those communities and meet the most need.”
Travis also said that other Virginia schools have helped promote Hurricane Helene relief fundraisers, including Virginia Tech and U.Va. Wise. Virginia Tech has a web page that lists local and regional resources, and U.Va. Wise has a page that provides student and employee support resources and ways to help. Travis cited U.Va. Wise’s approach to providing information about hurricane donation sites as a model for the University.
“U.Va. Wise has a cool ability where if you donate … 20 bucks to U.Va. Wise, you can earmark that for donation to hurricane relief, which is a really great way to be using school resources to put the money to good use,” Travis said.
Andreas Masiakos, chair of the representative body and fourth-year College student, said that U.Va. Wise and their method of promoting Hurricane Helene relief resources served as an inspiration for the bill.
Student Council also discussed ways to use non-SAF funds — Student Council money that does not come from the Student Activity Fee, an annual $58 fee to Student Council that is included in every student’s cost of attendance — to support hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina and Virginia. Brookelyn Mitchell, vice president of administration and fourth-year College student, said that because the representative body funds are not student activity funds, that they can be used more freely, like for donating to a CIO like University Democrats.
Masiakos also proposed a collaboration between the Student Council and University Democrats which would involve supporting the latter’s efforts to collect food, clothing and other essential items to donate to the victims of Hurricane Helene. According to Masiakos, funding for these donations would come from the Representative Body’s budget.
Dalton Haydel, College Rep. and second-year College student, said that he had concerns that working with a political CIO such as University Democrats would suggest a partisan bias from Student Council.
“I think it sends a bad message to our constituents that we’re partisan, and I think there's a general consensus [among the Student Body] that Student council has more progressive and liberal voices … and there are students that we represent that don't necessarily share those views,” Haydel said.
Brian Ng, chair of external affairs and second-year College student, offered to reach out to College Republicans and engage in fundraising efforts with them to avoid appearing partisan or biased in favor of the University Democrats and their political positions.
This discussion was halted by Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez, Student Council president and fourth-year College student, as she said that this discussion is not tied to the legislation, which broadly called for the University to connect members of the University community with hurricane relief efforts. Mendoza Gonzalez said that the discussion may continue as an external affairs conversation, outside the context of the legislation, another time.
Student Council also continued their discussion from last week on the Menstrual Product Project, an initiative Student Council is pursuing in collaboration with the Women’s Center that aims to provide free menstrual products in every residential dorm.
Nazifa Rahman, SAF committee member and fourth-year College student, said that the project team has been in contact with facilities management. Currently, Rahman said that they need student feedback to figure out how to effectively carry out the project across all dorms.
Student Council will not meet next Tuesday due to the University’s fall break, but will reconvene Oct. 22.
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