Sunday night’s Undergraduate Assembly meeting discussed religious group funding, sensitivity training, late-night dining and international student issues.
Representatives from Hillel, the Newman Center, the Muslim Student Association, PennforJesus and interfaith student group PRISM spoke about their initiatives and how the UA could help them this semester and in the future.
College senior and PRISM co-chairman Sam Adelsberg mentioned that although the group is funded by the Student Activities Council, many other religious groups are not and a lot are strapped for money.
Hillel President and College senior Aviva Vogelstein voiced similar concerns since donations to Hillel have decreased significantly this year.
College senior and UA Treasurer Sakina Zaidi said she and the budget committee would try to figure out what the committee could do to better fund these groups.
Two discussion papers were included in Sunday’s meeting. The first went over Faculty SafeZone Training.
SafeZone Training already exists for college house residential staff to increase awareness of lesbian gay bisexual transgender issues. However, there is no such option for other faculty and staff.
The goal of the initiative would be to establish a pilot program for an LGBT sensitivity program for faculty and staff that would gauge interest in such a program.
College senior and UA member Zac Byer raised the possibility that other cultural, religious and political groups might want sensitivity training programs as well.
Nursing and Wharton junior and UA member GJ Melendez-Torres responded that, as of right now, there has been no request by faculty or by any ethnic coalition for sensitivity training, whereas this need has been expressed for the LGBT community.
The next paper discussed was that of late-night dining.
The biggest questions posed involved the location, the possibility of a second venue, the payment method and the venue’s ambiance.
Many UA members agreed that a positive student response to the initiative makes it a top priority.
Finally, the International Student Housing Resolution was discussed and voted on.
The resolution focused on fixing issues that international students face at Penn.
Housing during winter break for international students in low-rise college houses requires high-rise residents to host others. The resolution urges the University to help remedy this problem.
These students also may not have mailing addresses in the US if they go back home for the summer months. Often, mail is lost when students come back. The resolution asks for a summer mailing site for these students.
International Student Orientation became optional for students this year. Since it requires a fee, many chose not to attend. The resolution also calls upon the University to subsidize this fee.
The resolution passed with two abstentions and no votes against it.
