The Ithaca College Student Governance Council met April 28 for its last meeting with its current members. SGC was joined by Emily Rockett, vice president, general counsel and secretary to the Board of Trustees, who discussed the legal implications of ongoing federal actions regarding higher education.
SGC also voted on two bills presented by council members. The first was a land acknowledgement bill, passed with a vote of seven in favor, none opposed and one abstaining. A student accessibility bill was tabled to make necessary changes before it can be reintroduced at a future meeting with a vote of five in favor, none opposed and three abstaining.
Implications of federal actions
Several members of SGC asked Rockett about updates to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigation into the college. The investigation was launched in March for alleged impermissible race-based scholarships in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal funding.
Junior Senate Chair Nikki Sutera asked Rockett how recent mass layoffs of DOE staff have impacted the investigation. Rockett said such investigations typically take a while to unfold, and DOE layoffs will likely further prolong processing times.
“I have had notification that the investigator assigned to this matter has changed three times before I filed a response,” Rockett said. “That was over the course of less than a month.”
Rockett said the investigation could also be slowed by President Donald Trump’s administration’s priority to impose bans on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. She said she thinks the OCR is focusing its resources on this issue more than its investigations into alleged racial discrimination.
Junior Transfer Senator Login Abudalla asked Rockett how the college is responding to the DOE’s threats to revoke funding from colleges and universities that fail to remove diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Rockett said that because the college is not a major research institution, it does not have a significant amount of federal research grants and contracts like universities such as Cornell University and Harvard University, two institutions that have faced funding freezes that have impeded their ability to conduct research. Rockett said these grants and contracts are not part of Title IV funding — the federal mechanism to provide financial aid to college students — which requires a lengthier legal process to be revoked. She said cuts to Title IV funding are unprecedented and would be politically risky.
“I can’t fully predict the future, but I don’t lose too much sleep over that possibility,” Rockett said. “I would encourage you guys not to, either.”
Junior Ty Anderson, vice president of residential affairs, asked Rockett for advice for international students who are worried about traveling because of the Trump administration’s widespread revocation of student visas. Rockett acknowledged the complicated legal considerations involved in the detainment of international students.
“The tricky part about traveling right now is that the way customs and enforcement officials are behaving is not necessarily inconsistent with what is legal in all cases, but it’s much more aggressive than what they’ve been doing previously,” Rockett said.
She said she is not authorized to give legal advice to students, but encouraged anybody planning on traveling internationally to read through the American Civil Liberties Union’s “Know Your Rights” guide beforehand and ensure that they have all documentation regarding their legal status in the U.S.
SGC Bills
Sutera and Abudalla sponsored an act to include a land acknowledgement at the beginning of every future SGC meeting. The acknowledgement recognizes that the college sits on land once owned by the Indigenous peoples Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (Cayuga Nation) and Deyodi:ho:nǫˀ (Tutelo Nation), and states that, “by making land acknowledgements, [SGC] is making a step towards dismantling legacies of settler-colonialism and showing commitment towards social justice.”
Sutera said the acknowledgement is the same as the statement made before every performance of the Center for Theatre and Dance Productions inside the School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Junior Rishabh Sen, president of the student body, recommended the act be changed to a constitutional amendment and said that doing so would support its longevity. Sutera and the rest of the council agreed with Sen’s recommendation, and the act was revised as an amendment to Article VII, Section 2 of the SGC Constitution.
Sophomore Eva Horst, vice president of campus affairs, Amelia Grimshaw, Class of 2028 senator, first-year student Claude Hayes, senator-at-large and sophomore Haley Beckford, Students of Color Coalition senator, sponsored an accessibility bill calling for the implementation of several campuswide initiatives to promote equitable access to infrastructure and improve the safety of the campus.
The bill includes provisions to increase transparency on the college’s website about accessibility limitations for each residence hall, increase signage around campus delineating accessible routes, modify the metal stairs by Towers to include a safety railing, publish publicly available safety reports, increase the frequency of checks to all accessibility-related infrastructure and include Narcan training in the fall orientation schedule.
Several SGC members expressed concern that the bill is not specific enough in its vision for implementation. Senior Kathi Hodel, vice president of business and finance, suggested that the bill be broken up into separate bills to make coordination with different offices more focused and direct.
“This, to me, reads like two separate bills,” Hodel said. “One is about orientation and Narcan training and the other is about accessibility in housing and accessibility testing around campus.”
Sen recommended the sponsors take more time to rework the bill and said they can reintroduce it in next week’s meeting with the newly elected executive board and senate members.
“This could be the first bill of the new academic year before the academic year has even started,” Sen said.
The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC meets from 7-9 p.m. every Monday in the Taughannock Falls Room of the Campus Center. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].
