Student Council discussed its recruitment process, internal demographics and student safety at its general body meeting Tuesday night.
Student Council reformed its recruitment process extensively earlier this year. While in the past members were required to apply and interview for a position, this year any student was permitted to join, leading to a 61 percent increase in membership.
Chair of Membership Joanna Morgan, a third-year College student, gave a presentation about the results of the new policy at the beginning of the meeting. On behalf of Student Council, she expressed overall satisfaction with the new policy.
“We wanted to make Student Council more inclusive,” Morgan said. “Having applications and interviews was antithetical to that purpose and the goals of StudCo.”
Later on in the meeting, Vice President for Administration Daria Winsky, a fourth-year College student, presented demographic data collected from a survey sent to all Student Council members.
According to the presentation, the non-Hispanic white percentage of the body dropped from 72 percent to 62.3 percent. Groups seeing percentage increases in membership included black, East Asian and South Asian or Indian populations, while the Latino or Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Native American or Alaskan Native populations decreased in percentage of the overall body.
Winsky expressed hope for diversity in membership in the future.
Furthermore, the survey results showed Student Council went from being 47 percent male and 43 percent female last academic year to being 63.5 percent female and 35.8 percent male this year. However, Winsky said the change may potentially be due to more females responding to the survey than males.
The body also discussed student safety and the effectiveness of student ambassadors. During the community concerns portion of the meeting, the body addressed a concern about student ambassadors not being alert enough or approachable to students who may need help.
Rachel Murphy, co-chair of the Safety and Wellness committee and fourth-year College student, responded by explaining the Student Ambassador program falls under the direct oversight of the University Police, who are currently collecting data about the locations and times students are getting picked up in order to improve the system.
She also said there are managers assigned to each night shift to ensure student ambassadors are alert and not asleep.
“[The ambassadors] would be the first to admit that there is still work to be done,” Murphy said.
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