The Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno met on Feb. 21 as the campus election season ramps up and passed a bill about a undocumented student program liaison to the Department of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility.
S.R. 91: A Binding Resolution to Add An Undocumented Student Programs Liaison Position to the Department of IDEA
During the meeting, eight people gave public comments to encourage people to vote for the piece about an undocumented student programs liaison position and also to encourage the mural project representing undocumented students planned for campus.
“Our community thrives when all students, regardless of immigration status, feel welcomed, valued and supported,” said Janet Najera, a manager of the undocumented students program.
The piece was created by Arthur-James Okwuosa, director of the Department of IDEA, and Diana Landazuri, senator for the College of Business. It will create a liaison position to represent Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and undocumented students at the University in Okwuosa’s department.
Before the presentation, Okwuosa introduced the importance of the piece and making IDEA a part of the support to undocumented students.
“It’s a short piece, don’t get me wrong, but it’s very impactful,” said Okwuosa. “I believe our association, it’s a piece that we need to show that we are going to be there for everyone, especially for individuals that have been there for us.”
Three students involved with the undocumented student program presented the importance of representation in the department, sharing information about their own stories, misconceptions about undocumented students and diving into legislation that has circulated about the program nationally.
“Our goal is to one day have these people not have to deal with the same thing,” the presenters said.
The bill was passed unanimously.
New senator appointments
Elijah Houghtelling, a previous senate intern, ran unopposed for the open position for the School of Public Health.
The senate appointed Houghtelling after a unanimous vote of approval.
Carmina Aglubat, previous senate intern, and Evan Robinson, previous advocacy director of the ASUN department of government affairs, ran against each other for the open position for the College of Liberal Arts.
Fayza Salah, the speaker of the senate, added that both candidates will still be able to join in the new session since they are running unopposed for the College of Liberal Arts, but it is about who will take this position for the remainder of the current session.
Leaf Acklin, Joel Martin and Mya Skowronski — senators for the College of Liberal Arts— believed Aglubat was better equipped for the position to join the senate since she has goals that could be implemented in this current session and a bill being placed in the session now.
Landazuri disagreed with this because Robinson was behind the Feifei Fan piece earlier in the session and argued Aglubat already has an ability to implement things at the table since she was a senate intern.
Jefrin Jojan, senator for the College of Engineering, argued that the argument of short-term versus long-term goals could go either way. If Robinson has long-term goals, Jojan argued he could get in earlier to start on that work now, versus if Aglubat has short-term goals she could get some things done faster in the current session.
After a long discussion, the senators were called to vote and Aglubat won the seat with 11 votes. She was sworn in directly after.
Jaedyn Young can be reached at jaedynyoung@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @jaedyn_young3.
