By Sarah Huffman
This Thursday, United Student Government (USG) voted to co-sponsor a campus-wide walkout on March 14. The idea was presented to the Senate by Neil Joyce, FCRH ’19. Joyce said that he was contacted a week ago by a student at Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC) and a member of Fordham Law School (LAW). The students are planning walkouts for their respective schools in response to the Parkland, Florida shooting a few weeks ago and asked for Rose Hill participation.
Joyce said he wanted to go through the administration to get the project approved. He said he contacted Dean of Students Christopher Rogers, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Jeffrey Gray, USG Executive President Brian Reardon FCRH ’18 and Executive Vice President Abigail Kedik FCRH ’18 in order to get things moving.
“This is a necessary first step in advocating for common-sense gun reform, and I hope that we as a Fordham community may advocate for justice in the weeks and months to come,” said Joyce. He also said that a walkout was an appropriate response to the email that Father McShane sent about a week ago concerning public protest in response to the Parkland shooting.
The walkout would happen on March 14 at 10 a.m. and would last 17 minutes to honor the 17 lives lost in the Parkland shooting, according to Joyce. USG also approved a letter that would be sent out to the student body explaining what the walkout is and why it is happening. The Senate said they hope a letter will help students feel more comfortable attending, as well as explain the intentions behind the walkout.
Reardon also added that Campus Ministry reached out to him about creating a time and space to pray and speak about the walkout and the issues it addresses. The Senate also discussed ideas for writing letters and tabling in order to spread awareness about gun law issues and what needs to happen moving forward.
In his executive update, Reardon thanked the Senate for approving the co-sponsorship and the letter.
The senate chose ASILI as their club of the month for February to recognize the club’s efforts during Black History Month. The Freshman Senate said the ASILI fashion show was a huge success.
The Election Commission gave an update concerning election season. Senators Scott Saffran, FCRH ’18, and Sofia LaBella, FCRH ’18, said they had their first information session and there are two more in the coming weeks. They said that anyone interested in running for a position needs to attend one of the meetings. President Reardon also encouraged everyone on Senate to run again.
