The SGA Senate voted to advance a bill removing language referencing the vice president of DEI position, DEI committees in the Senate and First Year Council, and the Black Student Leadership Council from the SGA Code of Laws on Thursday. The bill will head to the Senate rules committee and must be approved there before a final vote can be held.
The vice president for Belonging and Wellness position will replace the DEI offices, and its description removes any specific references to race, gender and other demographics. Instead, the new office is tasked with “promoting holistic student wellbeing and emphasizing the breadth of thoughts, backgrounds, and lived experiences of our student body.”
The BSLC acted as liaison between Black student organizations and the SGA and was responsible for operating and planning SGA’s annual Toy Ball Gala, a formal where students are encouraged to donate toys to Tuscaloosa children. It remains unclear who will run the gala following the BSLC’s dissolution.
President of SGA Samad Gillani and the text of the bill both said the decision to remove DEI language from the SGA code of laws was made to comply with state law.
While the University’s DEI guidance states that registered student organizations can still have DEI officers and committees, Vice President for Belonging and Wellness Aubrei Grisaffe said that because the SGA is funded by the state of Alabama, the SGA removed DEI committees.
“We worked closely with UA legal and The Department of Student Life to find the best paths to implement these changes to our constitution and code of laws,” Grisaffe wrote in a statement.
The Senate also advanced resolutions advocating free laundry for students who need financial aid and for a clearer student bereavement policy.
Senator John Michael Chandash, who authored the laundry resolution, said that it will save money for students in need so they can stay hygienic, something he called “a human right.”
Senator GiGi Jarres, who authored the resolution for a new bereavement policy, said that the current bereavement policy should be clarified and codified to better serve students.
Currently, the Student Care and Well-being office advises students to ask instructors themselves for excused absences due to loss of a loved one, but if requested, the office may also notify instructors of a student’s anticipated absence due to bereavement. In the latter case, the notification does not serve as an excuse or documentation to approve missed classes.
“It’s something that a student has to pursue on their own, and I don’t think that’s something you should have to do while you’re grieving,” Jarres said, referring to the University’s bereavement policy. “It starts with clarifying their policy, that way if someone is grieving … they have it at their fingertips.”
