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Syracuse University will make Indigenous Peoples’ Day a wellness day next year, the Student Association announced during Monday’s meeting.

SA encouraged SU to cancel classes for the holiday this year, but was unsuccessful, said Will Treloar, speaker of the assembly. SA also passed a bill recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day, an annual move they started last year. SU has recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day since 2016.

“It’s really important to acknowledge Indigenous people and celebrate them, not just today,” SA Vice President Adia Santos said. “Let’s try to keep that in mind as we go through the year, coming up with initiatives, and think about who we really need to support.”

The wellness day demonstrates the university’s commitment to representing Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Treloar said. SA’s acknowledgement is also a starting point to continuing a connection with Indigenous students on campus, SA President David Bruen said.

Ben Cavarra, vice president of the Community and Government Affairs Committee, detailed the committee’s ongoing work during the meeting, including increasing how many to-go containers students can take.

Under SU’s current policies, students are only able to take out one to-go container at a time. Cavarra said he met with SU’s Food Service Advisory Committee to talk about having students be able to take out two instead.

“We got a little bit of a subpar response, however the Food Service Advisory Committee has two very important and powerful student advocates who are working on it,” Cavarra said.

The CGA also plans to help create a winter clothes drive that will start in early November, Cavarra said. SA will collaborate with Interfaith Works of Central New York, Boys and Girls Club Syracuse and the Rescue Mission on the drive.

On Wednesday, Cavarra will also meet with Vernetta Kinchen, SU’s executive director of housing and lodging, and SU Senior Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services Kris Klinger to discuss adding water bottle filling stations to residence halls.

Currently water bottle filling stations are only located in the lobbies of residence halls. Cavarra said he hopes this initiative will reduce the amount of plastic water bottles used on campus.

Other business:

SA’s election week concluded with the swearing in of 19 new members. Board of Elections Chair Otto Sutton said that 4.4% of the undergrad population, or 676 students, voted in the election.

“It was a successful election by my standards and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of you,” Sutton said.

The new anonymous student reporting form, which enables students to report campus problems and concerns to SA, is now available to the public. Students can access the form through SA’s LinkTree on Instagram.

Treloar said students can address issues regarding food services, academics, dorm facilities, ADA compliance and more through the form.

“They’ve already gotten a few really, really phenomenal reports,” Treloar said.

Published on October 11, 2022 at 2:21 am

Contact Sydney: srrothst@syr.edu