In a general assembly meeting on Sept. 3, the Student Senate voted to create a committee on racial inequity. 

Student Senate President Sean Green noted that the topic of adding Racial Inequity as a Senate initiative was brought up a little over a month ago, but at the time there needed to be more information to properly move forward on the initiative. Meetings were held with College faculty, administrators, and instructors to discuss their views. Student insights were also considered. 

The Student Senate concluded that Racial Inequity was and is a prevalent issue at Madison College, which warrants Senate action, and voted to make an official initiative to address the issue. 

“It is the right of every student to be treated equally,” said Senator Aleem Syed during the meeting. 

The Senate hopes to create a place where minority students’ issues can be addressed and where students can feel free to express their concerns about this issue at Madison College. 

“We realize that we cannot solve racial inequity everywhere, but we can help solve things in Madison College. Thus, we came up with establishing a racial inequity committee,” said Sen. Syed. 

The Senate will be working on setting up a chair for this committee in the following weeks. They are currently focusing on gathering feedback from students on what is being done right at Madison College and what needs to be improved upon. 

As a part of Madison College’s effort to collect feedback from students on this topic, there is an upcoming student forum on Sept. 23, from 4–5 p.m. that will be hosted by Madison College President Dr. Jack E. Daniels and the Madison College Cabinet members. Vice President of Equity, Inclusion and Community Management, Lucia Nunez will be speaking on the goals of an equity and inclusion plan and what the college should be focusing on to be an equitable and anti-racist institution. 

“It is our responsibility to answer the call on behalf of other students to address both macro and micro racial inequities in our own jurisdiction,” said Senator Shia Fischer.