At 12:50 p.m Monday, Central Michigan University President Bob Davies sent an email out to students discussing the circulation of a video. That video showed was believed to be CMU students using racial slurs.

In response, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion set up discussion and support sessions for students to attend. At the first meeting on April 15, a staff member allegedly used a slur mid-meeting.

"A received a phone call halfway through the meeting," Davies said. "I actually had to ask the person to tell me again because I couldn't believe it. When they repeated the situation, my knees buckled and my head hit the table. I could not understand it."

The staff member (who currently is not being named due to ongoing investigations), was confirmed in a media release statement by Student Government Association President Tyler Zimmerman to be a staff member associated with CMU SGA.

At the SGA meeting that same night, Davies, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Vice President Shawna Patterson-Stephens and Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Erica Johnson came to speak about the incidents and hear student voices.

Davies said the situation was "a step backwards" for the institution, and that racism will not be tolerated on campus as it is suppose to be a safe space for all students.

"Our role is to be a community," Davies said. "Our role is education and to support one another. When we fall short of that, we won't stand by."

Patterson-Stephens echoed his statement, and reminded students there are resources for them on campus to use during situations like this one. She also said she understood how addressing these situations can be challenging to students.

"We received this information in a variety of ways, and I think that was really good," she said. "We want you to continue to feel like you can speak up when you experience issues on campus and understand that we do take it seriously. "

Johnson stressed for students to prioritize their own mental health during this time as well. She recommended students find community on or off campus to interact with or to utilize the resources on campus such as inclusion assistants in dorms, the university counseling center and submitting incident reports through the CMU website.

"On behalf of this institution, I apologize," Davies said. "This institution failed."

The situation was discussed in other committee and cabinet meetings, such as the Diversity Committee and in Senate. One of the students who spoke at both of these meetings is Madison Coleman, the newly elected Associate Justice for the 2024-25 academic year.

"CMU claims to be an anti-racist institution," she said during the Diversity Committee meeting. "But this is not the first time something like this has happened. It would be nice for this to be the first time CMU does anything about it, because an email's not going to do anything."

Coleman said she does not want to see situations like this repeated next year, especially in her cabinet position. She said everyone should treat one another with respect and discuss differences civilly.

"It's not about starting a conflict," she said. "It's fixing problems for a future generation."

Two additional meetings to hold space for students and address concerns will be held on April 16:

2 p.m in the Student Center for Inclusion and Diversity (or Room 108) in the Bovee University Center and
8 p.m in the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA)/Alumni room in the Student Activity Center.

Legislation for "Veterans Oasis" passed

Last meeting, the Student Veterans Association proposed a piece of legislation to the Senate requesting a space for veterans on campus. It passed unanimously in the senate, and it received the same treatment in the House of Representative with 56 votes.

Joint Resolution 5: A Resolution in Support of Getting Student Veterans a Designated Meeting Space on Campus aimed to do just that. Sponsored by the Student Veterans Association, the legislation asked for a room to be established that provided veterans with a place to study and relax on campus, dubbed the "Veterans Oasis" space.

With extended hours and various appliances and resources, the resolution says it will cost $5000 to set up and would be self-funded by the organization. The legislation says they would hope to use Room 116 in the Bovee UC, since it is near the campus's Veterans Resource Center.

Passing through both the Senate and House, it will now go to Zimmerman for signature before heading to university administration's desk.

In Other Events

Biller shared the location for the inauguration of the 2024-25 elected SGA cabinet members. At 7 p.m on April 22 in the Staples Family Concert Hall, the new officers will be sworn in. Biller said attendance will still be counted for SGA members.
Multiple events are coming up as CMU rounds out the semester. Some of these events include a 5K Run for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, a Climate Solutions Summit discussing clean energy, and a drag show discussing anti-LGBTQ policies.