Dean of the College James Larimore, Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia and Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman each addressed Student Assembly at its weekly meeting, held in 101 Collis last evening.
The Assembly, which is headed by Student Body President Molly Stutzman '02, also attended to its usual order of business at the meeting, passing a resolution expressing condolences to the families of the victims of Sept. 11.
Stutzman thought it was useful for Assembly members to have a chance to hear from the deans themselves and to have their questions on various College issues answered.
"I asked them to come because I thought it important that the student body know what issues they are planning on addressing this year," Stutzman said of Larimore, Sateia and Redman.
"Their actions shape our lives here and I think it's important that students know their agenda."
Larimore, the first to speak, discussed the Student Life Initiative and its provisions for the coming year. Foremost among the future changes was the pending creation of a consistent school-wide policy regarding alcohol use.
According to Larimore, a clearer set of enforced regulations -- which would be subject to student input during their creation --will "help to prevent and minimize risk" associated with heavy drinking. He emphasized though that such a policy would not seek to "create a 2001 version of Prohibition," but would rather focus on safety and responsibility at events where alcohol is served.
He also mentioned his continued focus and commitment to inclusiveness and diversity, as well as to increased student leadership and funding for students to organize events at the cluster level.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia talked of a new program, Programs In Leadership Learning and Realizing Success, or PILLARS, which will provide leadership training to students during the Fall term.
Additionally, Sateia talked of her role in implementing the newly created Office for Institutional Diversity and Equity, and of the creation of a project entitled "Stop the Hate," which Sateia said was intended to deal not with hate crimes themselves, but with actions that "lead to hate crimes."
Sateia thought that the program was "incredibly timely" given the recent terrorist attacks. "Hopefully it will help us to have a campus that is inclusive and welcoming to all students," she said.
Also mentioned was possible creative use of alternative spaces on campus, and maximizing current spaces for the needs of students.
In his remarks, Redman said he felt a need to create a process for expediting the applications of proposed student organizations, as well as requests for meeting space and other concerns.
He also spoke of a set of six guiding principles for Greek houses, which would be phased in over the next three years. The principles would outline a fundamental basis for the operation of each house, while "allowing them to still create something distinct," according to Redman.
Another topic was that of door locks, which Redman said would finally be operational "no later than the beginning of Spring term." The locks will be sensitive enough to detect a student's ID card at a distance of around six to eight inches, so that no card swiping will be required to open doors.
All currently unlocked doors on campus will remain accessible to students under the new system, Redman said, though the updating of IDs may necessitate a retaking of all ID photos before the system becomes operational.
Redman also spoke about the need for additional housing at the meeting.
Following the remarks by the three speakers, the Assembly debated and passed a resolution extending condolences to the families of victims of the terrorist attacks.
The resolution acknowledged campus organizations which "responded admirably" to the crisis, and allocated $1,000 to Families of Freedom Scholarship fund, an organization dedicated to providing higher education to the children of those who lost parents in the terrorist attacks.
In an amendment to the resolution proposed by Joshua Marcuse '04 and passed by the Assembly, a further $500 was granted to two organizations, the Council for American Islamic Relations and the India Abroad Center for Political Awareness, to help fight ignorance and to aid those victims of a nationwide backlash against Muslim Americans.
Speaking of the resolution as a whole, Marcuse said that "[the resolution] demonstrates that Student Assembly's commitment is deeper than just words."
The meeting also saw the appointment of Chris Bateman '05 to the MIAC, a committee which manages the internal affairs of the Assembly.
