Members of the Core Council for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Questioning students encouraged the Student Senate on Wednesday to participate in next week's StaND Against Hate Week.
Sophomores Monica Daegele and Maggie Waickman, Core Council members, said the Senate can help call attention to the week's activities, which include a movie watch with free food from Chipotle.
"We have traditionally done a StaND Against Hate week for LGBQ students as a week to speak out against discrimination," Waickman said. "We wanted to come invite you to our events because student government has been such an integral part in establishing our group."
Waickman said Friday will be designated a day of solidarity in which some students will choose not to speak, standing in solidarity with those who are oppressed because of discrimination.
"If we have a strong showing at events next week it will put us in a good position to start next year off strong," Waickman said.
McGlinn Hall senator Toni Schreier presented a resolution from the Department of Academic Affairs regarding the current Collegiate Readership Program.
"The mission of the program is to provide national newspapers to students on a daily basis so they are well informed, both in college and once they graduate," Schreier said. "If this resolution is passed, we will provide the New York Times, USA Today and [the] South Bend Tribune, as well as online access to the New York Times."
Schreier said Notre Dame implemented a pilot program in 2005 in which these newspapers were provided for free, and students expressed overwhelming interest.
"Eighty-two percent of students agreed that they were willing to pay an extra $10 to the student government in order to have access to these papers," Schreier said. "This resolution proposes the creation of a Collegiate Readership Fund, rather than a program, in order to ensure there will always be funds for newspapers on campus.
"The fund would protect the interests of student academics, making sure we always have the money to provide quality journalism."
After extensive back-and-forth discussion regarding the specific quantity of money and the fixed percentage of funds in question, the resolution failed with an 18-13-1 vote.
The Senate nominated and approved freshman Ricardo Suarez and junior Danny Colston for roles as First Undergraduate Experience in Leadership (FUEL) director and director of internal affairs, respectively.
Contact Maddie Daly at mdaly6@nd.edu
