Campus Update

Amy Inkrott / News Editor / The USD Vista

Associated Students

Solomon Hall buzzed on Thursday, Feb. 21, as students poured into the Associated Students (AS) Senate meeting. Every available seat was filled, and still more were added as this meeting showed the largest student attendance in recent memory. With a swift strike of the gavel, newly-appointed Speaker of the Senate Alexander Plummer called the meeting to order. Even after the sound of the gavel, students continued to flow into the room.

The meeting began with the confirmation of a new senator in the College of Arts and Sciences, Rameen Javadian. Like the senators before him, Javadian stood for his oath of office, promising to promote an inclusive and engaged community on the USD campus.

Next, the body was provided with information from the Torero Program Board (TPB). TPB is currently planning for OLÉ Music Fest, a concert experience specifically for USD students late in the spring semester. Afterwards, AS Finance Chair Stephanie Silvar gave an update on the AS budget. She explained that the body will receive $3,000 back from grants not used in the fall. Silvar also noted the AS contact with LYFT is still in progress. 

Chair of Student Organizations, sophomore Charles Young informed the senate of four different clubs looking to be registered on campus — the Alliance of Disability Advocates, Swing Dancing Club, the USD Rotaract, and the USD Coaching Corps. The senate voted to register each of these as official student organizations. 

In their next order of business, the senate welcomed a representative from Information Technology Services (ITS). Both the senate and the public provided feedback on the university’s mobile apps, blackboard updates, and the my.sandiego.eduportal.

As the ITS representative left, Young returned to the podium. Young brought up a powerpoint presentation regarding another club looking to register as a student organization. The Student Orgs Chair expressed concerns about the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition and its alleged history of anti-semitism. 

The ANSWER Coalition

At the AS Senate meeting on Thursday, Feb. 21, sophomore Student Orgs Chair Charles Young raised his concerns regarding a new club, called the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, looking to register at the University of San Diego. Young referenced articles from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Fox News in an attempt to show bipartisan concern over the group. The Jewish Student Union provided students with a handout from the ADL detailing the group’s association with “Antiwar Rallies and Support for Terror Organizations” between the years of 2002 and 2006. Young placed an emphasis on the group’s connection to terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah. 

“Either these members were recklessly ignorant about the organization’s poor history or they knowingly associated themselves with an anti-semitic group,” Young said. “It would have taken these members a mere point four seconds to discover the problematic history of ANSWER through a simple Google search.”

Young explained how he had previously shared these concerns with the AS President, Speaker of the Senate, and advisors. However, Young believed that these individuals did not share in his fears. He also expressed concerns about Jesse Magaña, Inclusion and Diversity Chair, and his involvement with the ANSWER Coalition. 

“Dangerously indifferent, our speaker refusing to inform the body about legitimate concerns involving the nominee for the Inclusion and Diversity Chair’s ability to actually foster inclusion and diversity while interested in joining an anti-semitic hate group,” Young said. “But our AS President refusing to condemn a known, bigoted, anti-semitic hate group that supports and defends terrorist organizations, that might be a step past dangerous indifference.”

The Student Orgs Chair shared his support for the club’s intention, but not for the ANSWER Coalition itself.

“I openly encourage an anti-war club at USD,” Young said. “I openly encourage an anti-racism club at USD. And I openly encourage a pro-Palestine club at USD. Just not this one. Just not one with baggage such as ANSWER has. We cannot allow an organization on this campus that has a demonstrated goal of being openly against any particular country. I ask this body, would it not condemn an anti-Mexico club as bigoted?”

Chair for Inclusion and Diversity, Jesse Magaña, was among the first to respond to Young’s presentation. 

“I would like to let you know how inappropriate and uneducated it is to make an assumption that because one may or may not be pro-Palestine, that they are anti-semitic,” Magaña said. “That is inappropriate and uneducated to bring to a body like this.”

Magaña’s statement was met with a chorus of snaps from the student cohort supporting ANSWER. He continued to highlight the non-partisan nature of the AS senate and their mission. However, Magaña’s main assertion focused on the ways in which this club was treated differently than others approved by the Student Orgs committee.

“You didn’t allow an entire club to go through the process of being vetted through the Student Org committee,” Magaña said to Young. “You didn’t reach out to any of the students individually, you didn’t come asking us about the political ideologies that you believe that we had, nor did you allow this club to go through the process of running through the Student Org committee.”

When Magaña had finished, School of Business senator and Parliamentarian Jocelyn McCoy made a motion to limit discussion on the issue to 10 minutes. Commuter Senator Dean Lockwood predicted that further discussion would not result in senate action during the meeting.

“We’re not going to create any policy out of this,” Lockwood said. “ANSWER still needs to meet with Student Orgs to get approved… It’s not something that we’re actually going to do anything about during this discussion time. I welcome the discussion but we need to keep it within limits so that we can have a reasonable meeting.”

But despite these suggestions, the motion to limit discussion failed, allowing the discussion time to continue. Shortly after, College of Arts and Sciences Senator Carolina Moreno Armenta moved to table further discussion on the ANSWER Coalition in order to allow the club to continue through the Student Orgs process like all other organizations. Again, Young highlighted the organization’s connection to terrorist groups. A student, identifying himself as the president of the ANSWER Coalition defended the nature of his group. The student did not provide his name to the open forum. 

“We are simply anti-racism and anti-war,” the student said. “We are against the fact that Gaza has been turned into a prison city with a wall bigger than Trump could ever dream of. We are against the fact that the Palestinians have been denied national liberation. We are also against anti-semitism.”

The senate then passed a motion tabling further discussion on the topic. Speaker Alexander Plummer called for any final business to be addressed. Discussion on the ANSWER Coalition resumed as members of the public continued to voice their concerns. Among these students was Joshua Glasser, president of the Jewish Student Union at USD. Glasser expressed his concerns surrounding the allegations of anti-semitism. 

“If ANSWER is approved as an authentic organization on campus, then we run the risk of allowing other discriminatory groups to form against other members of the USD community,” Glasser said. “This kind of organization could take all of the other minorities within our campus community and jeopardize USD’s emphasis on community and inclusiveness of all groups.”

Senator Carolina Moreno Armenta countered Glasser’s concerns by highlighting the various members of the ANSWER organization.

“I hear you talking about safety, well those students over there were the ones who protected our undocumented students against the presence of ICE on this campus,” Armenta said. “We had Trump supporters yelling all types of slurs to all types of people and students of the University of San Diego and we… were the ones building literal walls so they wouldn’t get to the students here on campus… ANSWER is literally trying to bring safety on campus, against white supremacy, white privilege, all types of movements that would get students of color to not reach their full potential.”

AS President Natasha Salgado proceeded to justify her actions in regard to the ANSWER Coalition.

“I wanted to wait and see and make sure that proper dialogue was had before any assumption of the individual students, or any individual on this campus was being smeared,” Salgado said.

As public discussion progressed, students were reminded that this item had been tabled. However, students on both sides of the issue continued to share their thoughts on the subject. Senators encouraged further civil discourse between the student cohorts and an adherence to established protocol within the Student Orgs committee. After over an hour of discussion, senators moved to adjourn the meeting. 

After the meeting, The USD Vista reached out to the President of the ANSWER Coalition, but declined to be interviewed.

Jewish Student Union president Joshua Glasser explained that he was more concerned with ANSWER’s history than the political nature of the organization. 

“Everyone has the right to their own opinion,” Glasser said. “I have no problem with pro-Palestine… We don’t believe that’s the issue here… This is an issue of whether or not prejudice against any group of people should be allowed.”

The ANSWER Coalition met with the Student Orgs committee on Tuesday, Feb. 26, during dead hours. During this meeting, the committee decided to further table the registration of ANSWER. 

“We further decided that, at this time, we are unwilling to move forward with the registration process should the group remain affiliated with ANSWER,” Young explained. 

The Student Orgs committee has promised to help the students find a different organization to be affiliated with or form a USD specific group. 

Police dogs on campus

Walking across campus on Monday, Feb. 25, students may have noticed the presence of the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). Officers were seen walking around Colachis Plaza, with their police dogs sniffing throughout the area. The SDPD was using the University of San Diego campus as a training ground for their newest K9 recruits. The dogs were being trained for counter-terrorism measures, specifically bombs hidden in backpacks. One SDPD officer explained that university campuses are the best place for this type of training as they simulate an event with lots of people. Once trained, these dogs will be used at various concerts and sporting events throughout the city.