Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 7:30-9:00Hopkins Hall 002

All College Council Meetings are open to the Williams Community. Anyone who wishes to speak before Council should contact Ellie or Olivia (eas6 or

cot1).

Called to Order: 7:39

Guests/Proxies:George for Tyler Nate for TristanGray for AndrewNate M. for LongGavin for Alice Bilal AnsariSarah, club proposalJoshua TerenehMolly, club proposalWillNick Goldrosen, the RecordSoban MehmoodOmar KawamJoseph MooreYousef AlamassiTed McNallyDavid GorestkiKimberly AndreassenTyler Tsay

Absences: I. Approval of Prior Minutes

Motion to approve last week’s minutes: PorterSecond: MaxThe Ayes have it

II. Open Time

Ellie: we are going to go straight into budgets today because we are behind

III. Budgets

Porter: going first, Rosa Nelly event which is a speaker in coordination with a migrant child speaker group that has received funding from multiple sources.

Solly: it was well documented, planned, organized, it seemed like a good event

Porter: for rugby, there is money for a training rope and food for a tournament. In the past, they have raised $2400 for the tournament and the food is for those working and for the competitors. GSAC is for a fundraiser

where they are giving away mugs for an asked donation of $5 which promotes the use of single use water bottles. The Asian Dance Troupe is hosting a workshop to teach people how to dance. PAC normally hosts skits, and there is one this spring. Jazz at Williams is going to be an upcoming event at the Clark. Pub night is currently out of money.

Jesse: yeah its the last three weeks of the semester not including this week

Porter: Vista is for an event that is the 15th anniversary of the Latinx studies department.

Jesse: we are trying to start an annual event where we make a scrapbook and use this scrapbook for the purposes of recruitment. Once they are done, they will go to the Archives to keep institutional memory.

Porter: Contredance didn’t go to fincom but my understanding is that they are doing an event where people are told to perform specific types of dances. Mental health committee also didn’t go to fincom, but it is for snacks for their events. If all these budgets were funded we’d have ~$4,200 left, but remember that doesn’t take into account the unresolved Rugby matter

Solly: with GSAC, since its a fundraiser, we can use benefits

Motion to fund GSAC from benefits: WilliamSecond:?The Ayes have it

Jake: my only question out of these is pub night, is that a weekly event?

Jesse: I can talk about it. Its for every week’s pub night and for the host, beer, food, and entertainment provided every week. For three weeks, this is the cost it comes out to.

Jake: so that will get us through the rest of the semester?

Jesse: Yep

Motion to fund everything else in full: LindaSecond: ?The Ayes have it

Olivia: do any of our guests want to come and

IV. Message from BilalBilal: hi everyone, I’m Bilal. Last week my name was invoked several times and a lot of people didn’t know who I was. I’ve worked here for several years across various offices now in the Davis Center and currently in the Center for Equity and Inclusion. We work with peer educators to talk about hard conversations surrounding race, micro aggressions, micro affirmations, and our purposes with this is to make sure that no one is ever shut down due to power and to make sure everyone is heard. Last week there was a black female in here, she came to me prior and talked to me about putting on a program to give an alternative to students coming to previews. As the acting director of the Davis Center, we encourage students of color to work together with events. I ask if they were working with other groups on campus and they said they were not. That is when I made a mistake. I reached out to Olivia and I said that I wanted to encourage them to do what they were trying to do, but I wanted to get them to work with other groups. My name was effectively used as a whip on a black girl’s back. I was very proud of all of you in here last week who paused last week when Isaiah left. That was a heavy moment. A lot of pain and hard stuff was expressed. Those of you who sat here and processed it, you didn’t budge from using that moment to learn and move forward. I watched the whole deal. I’m very proud of you all who sat through the entire thing. It is not easy to sit and listen to that. That is basically our work, what we encourage… that no one’s voices are not heard. Those whose voices, even the white males in the room that meeting, we need your voices to

speak up and make sure that marginalized voices are heard too. Never let your position justify your being quiet on either side. Everyone’s voice is important. So that is all I’m here to say. I’ll open it up for anyone who has anything to ask. My unix is ba3 if anyone ever wants to get dinner and chat.

Serapia: A few council members have been considering having a training for the incoming council similar to how we have bystander training. We were wondering if you and the Davis Center could work with us to put on a workshop regarding identity and privilege. Would that be something we could work on doing and if it’s successful keep going with?

Bilal: that’s what I’m here for if its a majority vote

Linda: I also do work at the Davis Center, so if anyone wants to talk to me or has any questions, I can try and connect you with people

Bilal: I am also in favor of the bylaw proposed about administrators not having any weight with their words if they are said out of the room

William: I was looking at bylaws lately and I may be wrong, but I was looking at the bylaws and I noticed that the bylaw in question last meeting said specifically –– the omitted part that no one mentioned –– was that this rule can be waived by council. I think we need to be careful looking at our bylaws in council and making sure we actually follow our rules.

Bilal: any questions?

V. Wifi groupYousef: I heard there was going to be a vote about a student group being pro-Israel. I have a few questions. How will you distinguish yourself and your events from the Jewish Voice for Peace? Can you please tell me what stance you will take on the past historical events and policies I will be mentioning shortly. A couple weeks ago, the 9th of april marked… A group of zionists, armed, decided to go to a village and kill everyone. This group

lated became the IDF (now considered the Israeli army). I think that is very important to look at and very important to look at what is happening in Palestine. Not only are actions against international law but it is also against Israeli law, as well. Recently reelected Benjamin Netanyahu said he was going to continue the same policies. I am from Gaza and almost was unable to come to Williams because of what was going on in Gaza. Not to mention the lack of electricity, unemployment, we are in 2019 and some people have the freedom of movement, and that is the case in Gaza. I don’t think there is much to say, from what I pose, I think it is obvious that the state of Israel -- even if not entirely illegal -- is doing a lot of things that we should at least talk about and discuss. Could Wifi? Please answer these questions: 1) how do you distinguish yourself from the Jewish Voice for Peace? 2) Why do you seem the need to ally yourself with

Joe: there was a group of people who wanted to occupy CC because of what happened last week and those students did not physically feel safe in this space. We stand in solidarity with those groups

Will: I just wanted to introduce the other student group before we talk about this one. It is the Williams primary health care initiative.

Motion to approve that club: JakeSecond: PorterThe Ayes have it

Will: the next club is the Williams Initiative for Israel

Molly: my name is Molly, and I am starting the Williams initiative for Israel. I wanted to thank you for speaking. I think I got your questions. First you asked about Wifi’s policy on recent events by the recent events under the current administration. Wifi as a group does not take a particular stance on any particular policies or governments within Israel. We are not pushing for any particular strand within Israeli politics. The only ideological claim this group is making is that Israel should exist, and wherever you fall within that

you are welcome to join. With regards to Jewish Voice for Peace, we are not aligned with them in so far as we are not a chapter thereof. I will say two things: the club opinion is that JVP does not align with the goals of the club. I’m not condemning them or saying anything else, but that is the club’s perspective. Personally, I see that JVP as not a group that does advocacy in a manner that I wish to get involved in. Thirdly,... could you repeat it?

Yousef: Don’t you think calling yourself the Williams Initiative for Isreal make yourself pro Israel as it is?

Molly: I think this is a group that is in favor of Israel existing. For instance, I don’t think there is a need on this campus to have a pro-France, pro-Germany club, especially given the history of every countries ever, countries that have created intense and ongoing human rights abuses, people are not discussing their right to exist. People are not discussing their right to exist in the same way as they are Israel.

Omar: do you mind explaining more in detail what a pro-Israel group will do on campus if it is detached from the current administration in Israel?

Molly: I would say it is 3 part. The first would be inviting speakers, lecturers, guests who have expertise in the issue because I have noticed that is a gap noticed in programming so far. Even if a speaker is political, this club would not be politically discriminatory. We would not be inviting speakers who only agree with a specific idealogical point. Second, we could engage with Israel holidays which there are several of. This would be something this club could celebrate. These are all holidays I grew up celebrating and I did not find space for there being these celebrations on campus. The third would be political activism like many other groups on campus. But as I said, this club does not particularly support or stress the perspectives of one specific political party

Omar: the concern is this club’s watering down real life experiences of Palestinian groups who have been oppressed by the current government of Israel. A group on campus who says they support the government that is currently enforcing those oppressive policies seems to be watering down the experience of Palestinian students at Williams. I understand there is a cultural component, but having a pro-Israel group is supporting the right of Israel to continue enacting policies that have been drowning out Palestinian people. Supporting a state that has been doing that seems to be overlooking a real wound in a sense.

Joe: yeah, we invite you to bring someone to campus who is an arab leftist to talk about the current state of the occupation. What I think is important to engage in is talking about the human rights abused happening in Israel. What is the need to support Israel when there are huge support systems and funding for the state of Israel. What does it mean for you to support Israel’s right to exist?

Molly: thanks for bringing that up. I would like to note that this is a complex topic that warrants a lot of discussion. I would be willing to have a longer discussion with anyone who wishes to about this if they would like to. To give the best abbreviated version of this that I can, the thing that I would ask is that first of all we are not defining ourselves in any way against the Palestinians or against Palestinian human rights. This group simply argues Israel has the right to exist like any other country. Of course this is a complex thing to say while there is a blockade on Gaza and all of the issues you mentioned. To me, I see Israel as a country that has done great wrongs that I struggle with. I see it important to level the playing field -- world wide it is difference, I understand -- but SJP is currently the only group on campus, a wonderful group with a lot of participation, that has any type of dialogue on this issue. This club is in essence…

Omar: you’re right, there is no way that a CC meeting like this can explain all the details. There is no way we can exhaust all of the discussion. What does it mean for CC to vote for instituting a club that is pro a political entity

that is pro-Israel. The other thing is there is no value in watering down those questions and saying that there is a club that is pro a government. I think there is a value on the implications of the CC to vote a club that is pro a nation. And I’m not even sure under international law there is any right to exist for a nation. I’m not sure there is anything that holds true about that or that CC should value that when determining if this club should be able to exist.

Solly: I think a couple things. It is very important to consider, in terms of any clubs, CC voting on something does not mean that endorses or sanctions everything that it does. This body voted to approve the society for conservative thought, the college democrats, it is not for either. This club is not to support the current status quo of the governments or illegal occupations within Israel. I think it is important to note that when a wall goes up on Paresky lawn and invalidates the existance of a nation of people. As someone who grew up as the son of an Israeli immigrant, I know that may sound rich, but I think that the failure of Israel’s current leaders or their policies do not justify ignoring the horrors of the holocaust that led to Israel being a land for the Jews.

Isabel: violence does not undo violence

Solly: I understand that but this club is here to provide conversations to discuss the importance of having Israel as a place for the Jews. This clubs seeks to provide a hole that is currently not filled. CC has a responsibility to approve clubs that are currently filling underrepresented niches on campus. CC’s approval of a club is not an implicit agreeance of any part of the clubs it funds. If that was true, no political group could be approved by CC.

Olivia: we are calling on people based on speaking order

Jesse: My main thing I want to say is that we have heard several times that this club is in support of Israel and its right to exist. My question is that since the very existence of Israel has led to apartheid policies that have

existed and continued to exist since its beginnings, how can being pro-Israel separate away from that?

Linda: I’d like to think about what a state is. These days states are defined by force. I understand that you want to establish this club for cultural reasons, but that is not what this club is named. I think bringing in personal experience is important and mine is having a Palestinian roommate in high school who cried when thinking about a friend joining IDF.

Joe: in a lot of ways we stand in solidarity with a lot of Israeli jews that are critical of the government. It is one thing to say that we support specific groups within Israel and their ability to live in parts of Israel. It is an entire other thing to say that you support an apartheid government that has been denying human rights.

Molly: I would dispute the way that certain facts have been framed. I come from a different perspective, but I don’t think this is the time to relitagate Israel and Israeli policies. Instead of respond to that -- we don’t have time for that, there isn’t enough time for that in a lifetime. I’d like to talk about how this group is different. This group is not endorsing the current governments of Israel. This is not a pro-Israeli government club. This is a club for people who are sharing a certain ideology and standpoint and would like to talk more about those standpoints. It is a club to talk about information, discuss information, and hold cultural events. There is no material way this club is any different.Nate: can we get a strawpoll on what we feel general council is seeing on this?

Ellie: let’s do a strawpoll

Nate: also, SJP do you advocate for anything political?

Joe: we aren’t SJP. I feel that most people who have walked in here have taken a rights-based approach. Whether that is a 1 or 2 state solution, so long as people have water and resources…

Nate: we received an email earlier from Abel about SJP…

Joe: I can’t really say much about that, but I’m glad to hear there are more students on campus against this club

Soban: As far as I know their main focus is the humanitarian crisis. SJP probably represents a wide range of opinions about whether or not there should be a one or two state solution with Israel. The stance every group on campus that represents marginalized communities on campus is rights-based

Jake: I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came and spoke tonight. It takes a lot of courage to come and speak up about this and this topic. Unfortunately I have to go. Before I go I wanted to ask if there was any urgency for your group to become an RSO in the next week or two. If there is a longer conversation to be had, maybe there could be more discussion.

Josh T. now proxies for Jake.

Jesse: question –– according to the interest meeting notes. There are some concerns about outside sources of funding coming into this club. Are there any concerns about these sources of money being political in nature? The bylaw ensures that all groups have to disclose any funding received outside to CC. Can you ensure the sources you are getting funding from are not supporting the government's

Solly: that only applies if we were registered as an RSO by CC. If we were registered, we would follow all bylaws.

Joe: you didn’t answer the question. Would your group not accept any money from outside sources that support the state of Israel.

Solly: I can’t answer that question for certain for two reasons. 1) i’m not sure what outside sources of funding we would be looking at that wasn’t certainly going to happen, it was just an idea. 2) I’m not sure if it will happen at all.

Molly: if you mean that a group that is outside of the campus is going to help fund an event at Williams, I would ask about what you mean support the government of Israel

Joe: I find it concerning that your group won’t say your group will not accept money from groups that support Israel’s government. We would not accept money from a group that lobbies or acts in a way we find to be immoral

Molly:

Jesse: what I mean when I say supporting the state of Israel is that, does that group support lobbying for the current government? Does it support Netanyahu’s government? I think that would be inappropriate to take money from

Molly: I’m happy to discuss this more, but again if it is in conflict with CC bylaws, we would definitely not do it. If there is a case where the bylaws are being followed and a mainstream organization would help sponsor an event, we would have to have a conversation as a club to discuss if that is something we are comfortable accepting. To the extent that this club is simply supporting the right of Israel to be a state, I think it is hard to categorically say we will not accept money from groups

Group 5: I think what you are saying is disingenuous. I don’t think any conversation about Israel can exist without the context about what Israel is

currently engaged in doing. If I asked if you support the atrocities occurring in Israel, you’d probably say no, but I don’t think that you said anything about denouncing those actions in any of your meeting minutes or invitations. It is not like people are saying that Israel has a right to exist in isolation to what is happening. It is one thing to say that Jews all across the Middle East have a right to self determination. It is another thing to say that this state that has been over time effectively eradicating a group of people has a right to exist… I think that is disingenuous

Motion to table to next week:Second: Porter

Margot: I think it isn’t CC’s role to vote on the ideologies of a club, but I think there is a lot of grey areas currently with your club, and I think there is a lot of room for harm and pain in your club. I think going forward we need more information before we vote on approving it.

Ellie: I want to be respectful to the time of our guests… Does anyone have anything to say about tabling it until next week?

Gavin: I think the reasons for allowing CC to support this club are two fold. I think giving space for a group of people to celebrate a state that served as a place for Jews to go to flee persecution from around the world is a good idea. I think there is also intellectual merit in bringing this club to campus… If you look at the map on the left, you can see that all this land that is currently listed as Palestinian land on the left is incorrectly labeled on the map. During this year, there was land in control by the British mandate, there was no Palestinian government over it at the time.

Motion to table until next week: ?Second:?The Ayes have it

VI. Document concerning last Tuesday’s meeting, specifically noting quotes that were particularly problematic

Isabel: I would like to say hello to all the people mentioned in this report. It is the opinion of the committee that members mentioned in this report… The report suggests that the $225k surplus should be used to create a fund to support events like Black Previews. I would love anyone who have questions about the report to ask questions about it. I would liek to leave off on the last line that says Mike B. played rugby and maybe embezzles money, too. I would like to emphasize the notion that the $225k should be used to create a fund that supports events like Black Previews.

Tyler: we can also pause to take a minute to read it if we need.

Solly: with my quote on OSL in the document, my saying OSL “just can” do this was not my endorsing it. With regards to the $225k, we did not expect finding it, and the plan that we have made on it is to divide it across the coming four years. The reason we did this was because this year’s budget was already significantly larger than normal, and our decision to divide it across four years was so that future councils do not have to cut groups that have been funded in years past because we spend down all of the surplus we found.

Isabel: I think you have an interesting point that CC is running out of money, as are a lot of student groups on campus are doing the same, the DC is running out and several groups are. My question is why are we running out of money at an institution that has $3bn? I think that you should do work to make sure that there is a permenant increase in funding. I think that CC should do work to reestablish your relationship with black students on campus. I don’t know if you are following black previews on Instagram, but they are putting in massive efforts night and day. I think a good first step to finding a recourse for what has been done is establish a fund for events like black previews with the remaining $225k. It is clear that this institution has a trend of not giving enough money to student groups on campus, even this

classroom is not particularly well kept. Clearly the administration is not doing a good job of upkeeping things on campus. Also, the Alumni Fund this year proposed establishing a fund that would give one student or one student group $100k for the year to do whatever they want. That was a cool idea that didn’t end up happening; it got second place because the administration pushed very hard to make sure the first place proposal won which was to expand the ASIP grant.

Tyler: you should take the money from the institution. We came to you and requested the money, and the Board granted it. That is what CC is supposed to be –– the loophole to getting what we want. But instead, CC has become an organization that just uses bylaws against each other.

Isabel: I have to go because I am volunteering for Black Previews which I recommend all of you do. They have a massive need.

William: just a ballpark on how useful the $225k would be, usually what the administration does is take 5% out and put it in the market and use the money it earns to fund things. $225k would lead to 10k every year.

Tyler: the reason that the people from Black Previews were not here is because students found out that the livestream had been posted all over ephblog. They are being called out by name and they are feeling unsafe.

Linda: I found this article entitled “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People”. I think this is something that everyone on council intuitively knows, but I think what happened last Tuesday is an excellent explanation of that. I think a lot of Council members that would benefit from reading this are not here right now, but if you would like to pass it on to them, that would be helpful

Ellie: just so everyone knows, we are planning on assembling a reading list

Porter: I’ve been speaking with deans recently about how we can move on from last week’s meeting. I won’t quote specific deans, but I think that it seems the types of groups that aren’t aware of the fincom process have a harder time getting funding because they don’t go through the fincom process. I think there needs to be something done on fincom’s end because it seems that most of the groups that benefit from fincom’s funding procedures are groups that have historically been able to

Tyler: if you look at how MinCo works -- im the MinCo co-chair -- we don’t have any restrictions. That is the environment that MinCo groups are coming from. We are working on providing more permanence. Where we don’t have any restrictions, CC has far too many restrictions. Specifically talking about the bylaws, i’d like to mention a conversation Lance and I were having which is that even if you were to strip away all of the bylaws (all the funding, all of them), there is still a lot underlying the rules that prevents funding from being given. Any kinds of attitudes or beliefs that are held that are underlying the rules are able to be masked by the bylaws and the bylaws can be referenced as the reason groups don’t get funding. So with the question of if we remove the bylaws, will that fix anything, that question neglects the fact that there are a lot of people on this campus that will do bad things regardless. Ignoring the fact that underneath the bylaws are people who will act this way, and saying bylaws can’t be eliminated because of that is refusing to address head on the fact that students will be bad regardless. This council was established in 1914 and in 1942 it was remade again, in 1984, it was founded and established by the administration again. This is just another iteration of the administration; you are all tools of the administration that are expanding their influence. There are ways CC is an echo of the larger institution that echoes the institution

Will: Linda I was just going to ask, can I see a copy of that article?

Linda: sure, there are 3 copies.

Ellie: was that all? Does anyone else have anything else to add?

Serapia: I don’t think I need to repeat the ways that CC and the members in it have perpetuated the harm onto students at Williams. I think that it is our responsibility to create a space that centers around voices of marginalized groups on campus that have been specifically harmed by CC on this campus. A few of us have thrown around the idea of what this space would look like, whether it would look like a town hall, if it would be online because its 2019. But this envisioning of what the next council needs to look like needs to occur by people who are feeling that they need to step up, step forward. The devil is in the details when we are talking about what to do with $550k. Making spaces for events like Black Previews, making space for groups to come forward is important, but I don’t think we have been doing that very well. Instead, we have been acting only as gatekeepers of the funds. Trying to figure out what we are going to do now moving forward, that is a conversation we need to have moving forward. This is going to be a lot of work on us, but if we are going to take the concerns of those who have come forward seriously, we should make time moving forward to radically envision that. I think that should be on our mind and on our agendas as we move forward.

Ellie: along those lines, I think it’s a good time to share what Olivia and I and the rest of exec has been discussing. We will be creating a mandatory anti bias training going forward, we will create a reading list for people to read and inform themselves before coming into this space, we have been discussing moving this into a space where we could move and sit all around a table, and there are ongoing talks with various groups on campus that we need to continue and go forward with so we don’t keep going just as business as usual.

Serapia: I would like to discuss a budget that I was unable to submit to FinCom but it is only $100 from donations fund

Porter: we don’t have quorum anymore, but there is a treasurer’s discretionary fund that will be able to cover this

Tyler: can we talk about the fund of 225k into events like black previews here in this meeting?

Serapia: has any of the money from this fund been spent?

Solly: 20k

Linda: is the amount of money CC receives every year adjusted for inflation?

Porter: No. That is the exact problem. The hope is that after 4 years of breaking down the 225k across the next few years, we should be able to argue more clearly to the administration that we needed

Tyler: think about it though, the administration found 225k and told you to use that to cover the rising cost of inflation

Porter: there haven’t been any discussions with the administrations about raising the SAT

Tyler: not the SAT, I’m talking about the 225k. That is to cover the inflation costs, right?

Porter: we are trying to use the 225k to ensure that we don’t have to cut any groups that have gotten clubs under the inflated budgets of recent councils because next year because we spent too much money and can’t give groups money that have got money this year and past years

Tyler: is the belief that the rollover and the extra in accounts in the end of the year will not be able to match for the inflated budgets?

Porter: we’ve already accounted for that in our budget this year

William: we’re basically overspending by $80k because we are expecting the rollover to come back

Jesse: so is the SAT the only source of CC money. Is that where all of CC’s money comes from?

Porter: yes

Will: the issue that we have run into is that we have had a series of treasurers who have had varying degrees of being able to treasure. We currently have a treasurer who have looked at our books and noticed that the money we are spending every year on events that students want are in excess to the amount of the SAT coming in. We will lose a lot of money in about three years unless we spend the more money, which it seems that many groups probably want us to do

Tyler: How much would you need just for next year? Organizing doesn’t cost much money, so if you put however much money you need in making sure you don’t run out next year and then put a substantial amount into a fund that can be handed out for organizing

Linda: just on the bylaws note, I guess we don’t have time… but I agree that we should go through every single bylaw and then decide which are good and which are bad, but I guess we don’t have time for that right now

Porter: just to plug the Rules Committee, we currently have a document that we have gone through and marked up the bylaws we are concerned about. Anyone can submit bylaws they want us to review and recommend to CC.

Tyler: to end this about OSL, you should look into OSL and figure out for sure how much money OSL is costing you by charging the CC accounts without conferring with you.

Haoyu: did you want the 225k to come from CC and go into a fund or come from the administration?

Tyler: we were thinking this money should be transferred to MinCo because we don’t have any bylaws and that gives us flexibility on what to fund

Linda: Specifically regarding the administration and their actions without our approval, we need to think about pressure we can put on the administration to ensure they comply to us

Meeting Adjourned: 9:30

Respectfully Submitted,

Lance LedetParliamentarian, College Council