Members of the Student Assembly gathered Tuesday night in Cutter-Shabazz Hall as part of a new initiative to reach out to underrepresented groups on campus, Assembly representatives said. Statements on diverse hair needs and the "Good Samaritan" policy topped the Assembly's agenda.
The Assembly almost unanimously passed a statement to support the hair-care initiative being pursued by the diversity affairs committee, which seeks to bring hair stylist James MacMillan to campus at least once a month to cut hair for black students.
"Most black people are not going to go to a Hanover barbershop to get their hair cut -- it's just not realistic," co-sponsor Jeffrey Coleman '08 said.
Local hair stylists lack the experience in handling black hair needs, the legislation's sponsors said. MacMillan has come to campus in the past and been well received.
Assembly members hope to bring MacMillan up more often, secure equipment and reserve a room for him to provide services in either the Collis Center or Robinson Hall.
Dawn Hemphill, assistant dean of student life and advisor to black students, has been working with the Assembly on the project.
"[We're] just working on providing services somewhere in Hanover, because we find that the local barbers are not necessarily practiced in cutting black men's hair," Hemphill said.
A working agreement is already in place between the College and Hilde's salon downtown to provide services for women.
According to Hemphill, the owner of Hilde's basically decided to hire two stylists last year to provide services for between 10 and 12 black women each month.
The Assembly also passed a statement to "clarify and publicize" the College's Good Samaritan policy at last night's meeting. The Good Samaritan policy provides some disciplinary protection for students who call 911 or Safety and Security for assistance with intoxicated or impaired students. The policy does not provide disciplinary immunity for students "whose behavior flagrantly or repeatedly violates the College alcohol policy."
"We feel that the way the Good Samaritan policy is portrayed now gives a general misconception of what it actually is and how it's applied," co-sponsor Kirsten Murray '07 said.
April Thompson, the interim director of the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office, attended last night's meeting to provide information on the Good Samaritan policy.
"Our office is very friendly and amenable to working with students to come up with action plans for these things," Thompson said.
Final decisions as to whether the Good Samaritan policy can be invoked for an incident rest with class deans, Thompson said, and about 90 percent of calls receive Good Samaritan treatment.
The Assembly also passed a statement unanimously to express its support for establishing a formal student representative structure to interact with the Board of Trustees.
Student Body President Julia Hildreth '05 said that trustees want to reach out to students, and although they are not ready to include a current student or young alum on their board, she said they "need to be ready" for formalized student representation.
When trustees visit campus, they meet with student groups but rarely get to interact with individual students.
"The problem is that students aren't really aware with that, and there's no real way to get involved," Hildreth said.
Jacques Hebert '07 spearheaded the effort to hold Assembly meetings in various places to address the specific concerns of different campus populations.
According to Hebert, the Assembly's meeting was held in Cutter-Shabazz, which houses the College's Afro-American Society and the academic affinity program for African and African-American Studies, to engage in a dialogue on relevant issues and recruit new Assembly members.
"These outreach meetings can be targeted to any group on campus that has needs SA could address," Hebert said, mentioning athletes and Greek house members as groups to potentially engage in the future.
A formal position in the Assembly is reserved for each campus organization so it can send an official representative to the Assembly, but according to Hebert, few campus groups take the Assembly up on its offer.
After attending her first Assembly meeting, Tiffany Redding '05 said she will become the organization representative for the Afro-American Society.
"I definitely think that had a big impact on the black students that decided to come out," Redding said. "Had it never been here I would've never come to a Student Assembly meeting."
Redding expects other campus groups would be responsive if the Assembly also focused on them, inviting those "who normally don't get involved in Student Assembly to experience it in their own space, where they feel comfortable," she said.
The Assembly plans to hold one meeting each term at a different location, where they will target the needs of groups that are underrepresented on the Assembly, Hebert said.
"It would help us a lot to enact better programs," Hebert said.
