Student Council heard a proposal for a new CIO at their Tuesday meeting.
Second-year College student Austin Gogal introduced his idea for the University Forum — an organization which aims to raise student awareness of and encourage discussion about important local issues, like race relations and sexual assault policy at the University.
The University Forum would provide Student Council with feedback from its discussions as another form of introducing community concerns, especially from students not affiliated with an organization that fosters such discussion.
“It will help all students feel like they’re being valued and heard,” Gogal said. “If students don’t know a lot about an issue, they feel hesitant about talking about it for fear of sounding ignorant, so creating space where students can talk about these things would be very beneficial.”
The University Forum would also seek to increase student interest in important topics, Gogal said. The CIO would partner with advocacy groups on Grounds — such as Feminism is for Everyone, One in Four and the Black Student Alliance — as well as publications, professors and other groups, like Greek life.
In the University Forum, students would learn how to engage with issues they find personally interesting and what they can do to change policies at the University, Gogal said.
“This creates a group that specializes in increasing student engagement, so members spend a lot of time and effort developing these specific initiatives at U.Va.,” Gogal said.
Gogal’s presentation was not an official CIO pitch, rather a preliminary discussion of the idea.
Council also passed a bill creating the Outreach Committee, sponsored by College Representative Luke Williams, a second-year student.
“The Outreach Committee shall be responsible for the education of the student body, including recruitment when appropriate,” the bill reads. “The Outreach Committee shall also be responsible for coordinating events pertaining to the education and recruitment of students.”
The committee was created in response to concerns about the diversity of Student Council, as well as Student Council’s desire to educate University students about their activities.
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