Senate Spotlight: February 2nd, 2022
Morgan Ross | maross2@butler.edu
This past Wednesday’s Senate meeting, SGA started off the meeting by addressing any student concerns, primarily regarding a resolution to condemn antisemitism. The resolution was brought to the Senate floor this week requesting SGA to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism which defines:
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Several Butler students spoke on behalf of Senate Resolution 2122-057 introduced by primary sponsor, Aidan Kohnke, asking for support and action from the Student Senate for the Jewish students of Butler. Three students all spoke on behalf of the resolution, providing sufficient evidence and reasoning to urge a vote in passing the resolution.
Students in support of the resolution brought it to the Senate after feeling unsafe and in response to acts of violence, hatred, and vandalism across the nation. Senate Sponsors of the resolution wanted to adopt this definition of antisemitism as a response to hatred towards a mironity group.
Two students also elected to speak in opposition of this resolution during the student concern section of the agenda. These students believed that the IHRA definition falsely conflated the idea of antisemitism with the criticism of Israel and did not consider the perspectives of Palestinian students, frequently critical of Israel’s government and their policies.
The Senate moved to a discussion amongst student senators for 26 minutes. During this time senators in favor of, opposed to, and those who wanted more information before coming to a decision, discussed their opinions regarding the resolution. After an open discussion, the Senate moved into an executive session for further discussion. Following this executive session, a blind vote was cast; the resolution to condemn antisemitism failed with 10 senators in favor, 16 opposed, and 10 abstaining.
In addition to the discussion of the resolution, students Chloe Enk (Secretary) and Bryan Sobczak (Treasury) gave a presentation pertaining to bringing a new club on campus, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTN). The purpose of the organization is access, equity, and empowerment of teaching and learning. Open to all Butler undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in mathematics education, this student club may be of future interest to students upon University approval.
Following the Senate meeting students were invited to connect with staff from the Center for Faith and Vocation (CFV) and the Efroymson Diversity Center (DC) to provide a space of support for students to process the decisions made by the Senators. This session was hosted by CFV Director Daniel Myers and DC Director Randall Ojeda. All students were welcome regardless of their stance on the resolution.