Hate crime addressed at ASG

Eleanor Wheeler garners support from ASG and prompts discussion on ASG action

Luke Garrett / News Editor / The USD Vista

Associated Student Government (ASG) saw an unfamiliar sight during last Thursday’s meeting — a senate packed with students. More than two dozen listened intently as Eleanor Wheeler took the podium to read their response to the recent hate crime, which left Wheeler’s door vandalized with slurs and violent language on Oct. 24.

Following their statement, five senators and  Sociology Professor Thomas Ehrlich Reifer shared their support for Wheeler and the LGBTQ community, although to another student, who identified themself as Manny, their words of support alone  were not enough.

“I understand the whole wanting to be in support, but you are not showing me how you are going to do that and that is really frustrating to me,” the student said. “I really want to challenge you all to think about the how.”

Chair of Inclusion and Diversity Committee Jesse Magaña responded to the student’s concern by welcoming all to his committee meetings, and noting that in his opinion, ASG can only do so much. Magaña stressed his view that at the end of the day, the top university administrators are the ones who can make a difference in the campus community. 

“(Change) has to come not only from the students in this room, but the level of administrators — I am talking about those who are on the executive council: the president, the provost, the vice president — because how often do we see them walking around campus talking with students?” Magaña asked.

He then critiqued administrators for not being available to students, adding that they need to “face the facts.” 

“I am tired of seeing pictures of President Harris just plastered in specific places on campus where the money is and not where the students are,” Magaña said. “It’s exhausting, because people refuse to come out of their offices and answer questions and face the hard facts. Nobody is answering the really tough questions that need to be answered on a level that is far beyond anyone else’s pay grade.”

Multiple senators nodded in agreement to Magaña’s claim. 

The administrators mentioned in Magaña’s statements declined to immediately comment. 

Others within the crowd had their own response to the call to action. 

Alanna Bledman made mention of an underground network that is able to make immediate change without the speed bumps of bureaucracy. 

“There is this sort of  underground secret network of students who are on call and ready to go whenever and for whatever,” Bledman said. “Me and my friends are infiltrators of systems. We get in these meetings and we get into these buildings and we make sure we do not leave until change happens.”

A few other students chimed into the discussion with words of support and the desire to create change on campus.