On Friday, April 5, The Associated Student Government (ASG) held their weekly board meeting, facing pressure from City College’s Student Justice for Palestine (SJP) club to draft a resolution calling for a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel.
Three members of the club, Robin Isherwood, Ferdaouss Elmoussaid and Kiki George were present for public comments at the beginning of the meeting, communicating their shared concerns for the ongoing conflict overseas.
“We know that here, in Santa Barbara, Palestinian and Jewish students alike have felt threatened and scared by the hateful ripples of this violence in our own communities,” Isherwood said, “We at SBCC condemn racism, antisemitism and islamophobia, and we call for an end to violence and bigotry, here and abroad.
“We ask our ASG to represent our voices in this call, and join nation-wide efforts to pressure our government to use its power to promote peace by enforcing an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.”
Since last week’s meeting (March 29), the SJP club petition for a ceasefire has grown from 85 student signatures to 153, as of April 5.
George followed up Isherwood’s reading of the club’s official statement by providing an anecdote of her grandfather’s experience in the Nakba, a result of the 1948 Palestine war where 700,000 Palestinians fled, and were expelled from what is now Israel and Palestine.
“This conflict is not a recent development,” George said, “it is rooted in a history of injustice and dispossession.”
Elmoussaid, who attended the meeting via Zoom, additionally used the time to read a CNN investigation titled, ‘Anesthetics, crutches, dates. Inside Israel’s ghost list of items arbitrarily denied entry into Gaza.’
Aside from public comments, the SJP Club was officially chartered during the meeting, with a unanimous ‘yes’ vote from every ASG board member in attendance.
Reemo Hooper, the Isla Vista community representative, created a motion to establish a committee for drafting resolutions brought up by students at City College, such as the proposal from the SJP club.
“[We should] look into ASG’s history at City College in drafting resolutions, and statements for the student body as well, in order to address some of their concerns, like the one we got from public comment,” Hooper said. “We need to have more voices, more leadership, more outspokenness on certain topics from ASG, as we are the representatives of the students.”
Soph Kofoed, the student trustee, agreed with Hooper’s proposal, stating that “being outspoken is a good thing.”
The ‘resolutions committee’ was established by the board with unanimous approval.
Later in the meeting, the board discussed a proposal from Aristea Cotteraeu, the commissioner of sustainability, calling for a transfer of $60,000 from the currently untouched sustainability fund of $125,233.46.
The sustainability fund is accumulated from a portion of each student’s tuition, to be used for ‘sustainable’ and ‘eco friendly’ projects around campus. This transfer of $60,000 would give the board the opportunity to fund these projects, for both clubs and their own sustainability ideas.
Cottereau has voiced this proposal in the last four meetings, but the board was somewhat hesitant to move the funds without informing the student body before moving forward.
After substantial discussion, Cottereau and the rest of the board landed on sending an email with a survey out to students, asking for feedback regarding the transfer of sustainability funds, prior to voting on the decision.
Additionally, the ASG established another committee for electing members of next semester’s board. This committee intends to “work on gathering applications, helping these applicants campaign and facilitate the entire elections process,” according to ASG President Elizabeth Wilmer.
This committee cannot consist of any board members who are attempting re-election. Elle Swing, the commissioner of marketing was elected as chair of the committee, and Anastasia Savonov, the vice president of internal affairs as co-chair.
Student applications to be an ASG board member for the Fall 2024 semester are now open, and are due on April 12.
In other news, Dr. Celine Park, director of employer engagement, attended the meeting looking for volunteers to work at the job fair. The job fair will be held on Tuesday, April 16, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Over 80 employers from different fields will be attending, giving information about internships and student employment.
As a reminder, the blood drive will be held on Tuesday, April 9, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of the Learning Resources Center on West campus.
The next ASG meeting will take place on Friday, April 12, at 9 a.m. in Campus Center room 223.
