Passed Unanimously 11/13/2007
SCHOOL OF GENERAL STUDIES STUDENT COUNCIL
November 9, 2007
WHEREAS, the Columbia College/Fu Foundation School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences (CC/SEAS) Office of Multicultural
Affairs (OMA) is an essential resource for students, particularly
students who are diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, or gender identification; and
WHEREAS, the CC/SEAS OMA has been instrumental in addressing
students' needs and concerns following recent bias incidents on campus;
and serves as a pivotal resource for campus-wide community-building;
and
WHEREAS, the quality of undergraduate education is directly affected by accessibility of vital student services; and
WHEREAS, the recent bias incidents on the Columbia Campus,
including one in Lewisohn Hall, home to the School of General Studies
(GS) lounge and administrative offices, have deeply affected students
in GS; and
WHEREAS, GS is the only undergraduate college at Columbia
University (CU) without access to an OMA; CC and Barnard College
respectively maintain an OMA for their students; SEAS receives access
to the CC/SEAS OMA and represent a proportion of the undergraduate
student body roughly equivalent to that of GS[1]; and
WHEREAS, GS students comprise 17, 20, and 28 percent of the total population of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native student served by the CU undergraduate schools, respectively[2]; and
WHEREAS, the exclusion of these GS students from the OMA is exemplary of much larger pattern of systematic exclusion of GS students, a situation which marginalizes GS students in their own eyes
and in the eyes of the entire university;
Be it therefore RESOLVED, that the General
Studies Student Council calls upon Columbia University to reorganize
the Office of Multicultural Affairs so that it serves all Columbia
Undergraduates, and
Be it further RESOLVED, that the General
Studies Student Council recommends that Columbia University expand and
staff the OMA to accommodate its current and future demand.
[1]Columbia University, Fall 2006 headcount
enrollment by school, race/ethnicity, and citizenship.
(http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment_ethnicity_2006.html)
has the most recent statistical evidence and states that of the 7,467
undergraduate students at Columbia University, 1,409 were SEAS
students, while 1,685 were GS students. These numbers include Post-Baccalaureate General Studies Students.
[2]CU Fall 2006 headcount (same as above) states that
of CU's 551/669/40 Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native
undergraduate students, 95/131/11 (respectively) are GS students.
