This week’s MCSG meeting began with a discussion of the changes that the Legislative Body (LB) plans to make during the 2018-2019 academic year to better connect with the entirety of the student body – especially students of color.

Leading the discussion, MCSG president Malik Mays ’19 expressed an interest in cultivating a stronger relationship between student government and the Department of Multicultural Life (DML).

“This year, I want to show that MCSG and DML are on the same page with things,” Mays said. “A large part of my campaign was [about] improving the classroom environment and working on programs to make sure there is support on campus for students of color, especially after the Walk-In.”

Over the summer, Mays met with Dean of the Institute of Global Citizenship (IGC) Donna Maeda several times to discuss the college’s plan to address microaggressions in the classroom.

One of the ways that the college is planning to address its classroom environments is at its Faculty Academic Issues Retreat – which will be held on September 28 and 29, and feature an address from co-founder of the Social Justice Training Institute Jamie Washington.

“[Faculty] will be talking about ways to create a more inclusive classroom environment,” Mays said.

After the regular meeting’s conclusion, the MCSG Executive Board met privately to discuss the LB’s goal to intentionally connect representatives’ identities to their leadership skills.

“I think MCSG right now lacks something that shows how you can be inclusive of your identities and use those qualities to help you reach out to students who are also part of those communities,” Vice President Blair Cha ’20 said. The Executive Board also discussed their plans to introduce the new first-year representatives to MCSG on their own annual retreat.

The final open positions on MCSG for the semester will be filled next week, after elections for first-year, junior and senior representatives take place on Monday and Tuesday.

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