Following a string of hateful incidents at UF over the past three months, the Student Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning acts of racism and anti-semitism on campus.
It also passed a resolution sup- porting First Amendment protections. Both passed unanimously. Resolutions state the Senate’s stance on issues but do not require action.
Sen. Wallace Mazon (Impact, District E) who was a co-author to the resolution condemning hate speech held up a copy of a comic that appeared in the Alligator on Tuesday, which depicted UF President Kent Fuchs’ automated voice message condemning whatever a caller takes issue with.
“I’m not available right now, but if you’re a student calling to complain about something, then I condemn that thing,” the message read.
Mazon said the comic explains a lot of students’ frustrations about acts of hate speech on campus and the university’s lack of action.
This is the reason why he and the other authors wanted to write the resolution.
“Our job as senators is to question the status quo,” he said.
In addition, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution honoring the lives of two UF students who died in a car accident during Spring Break and unanimously passed recommendations for committee seats.
Sen. Elizabeth Wilson (Impact, Health and Human Performance) who authored the bill honoring the lives of Caroline Alfano and Nicole Scherten said she is a member of the same sorority to which Alfano belonged, Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Also during Senate, $1,050 was passed for the UF Asian Graduate Student Organization, and $440 was passed for the UF Student Information Security Team.
Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry