Binghamton’s New York State University Police have moved Monday’s Student Assembly meeting to the Anderson Center and will keep officers on-hand as the Assembly deliberates over the vice president for multicultural affairs.
When student government 12 years ago considered removing the position, intended to inspire diversity on campus, 800 students protested at the Couper Administration Building. Ten officers were on hand but were unable to control the crowd, resulting in the use of pepper spray on protesters.
“The safety of all attendees for any campus event is always primary,” said University spokeswoman Gail Glover, who confirmed police would be present.
Student Association President Matt Landau requested the change in venue and officers’ presence. Public comment will be held at the start of the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m.
Landau said he expected no more than 100 people to attend, a considerably lower turnout than in 1996. The Anderson Center’s capacity is 1,200. A Facebook event for the meeting indicated 139 were planning to attend as of Thursday night. No protests have been publicly announced.
“The SA’s creating an antagonistic situation going into Monday by calling on police, before there’s even been a protest planned,” said Andrew Epstein of Experimental Media Organization, a group whose members have historically taken active roles in protests. “Clearly someone in the SA or administration is seriously concerned about how they’re going to look if they eliminate the VPMA, and they know there’s going to be an outrage about it. They want to cover their asses.”
The VPMA, an annually elected position on the Student Association executive board currently held by Maryam Belly, has seen frequent mid-year turnover in past years and has been criticized as ineffective. Dialogue regarding the office has been even more omnipresent and contentious since it was introduced to the Assembly this past Monday by Adam Shamah, of Mountainview College Council (MCC).
Proponents said the 45-member Assembly should pass the amendment — which would leave the fate of the VPMA to a vote of all undergraduate students — in the interest of the democratic process. A campus vote, they said, would give a sense of closure.
However, others said they viewed the effort as an attempt to stifle minority voices, and question why the legitimacy of the VPMA is viable for the student body’s vote, but other issues have not been.
“A lot of students have expressed concerns about the legitimacy of the SA, or even the legitimacy of certain positions on the e-board, and the fact that the VPMA position is the only one being asked to go to a referendum is indicative, the students think, of the alterior motives of these people,” Belly said. “It’s an underhand attack on multiculturalism.”
If the Assembly passes the vote on to undergrads at large, two-thirds would need to vote against the position.
“Although Adam Shamah is saying that he’s promoting democracy, what he’s doing is not compatible with democracy,” said Abid Hossain, treasurer of the Muslim Student Association and a member of MCC. “A big part of democracy is having some sort of protection for minorities. By attacking multicultural positions, that’s an attack on democracy.”
Shamah was criticized by Hossain and other members of MCC during a meeting Tuesday because he proposed the amendment without first introducing it to MCC. Shamah confirmed that was the case, but said that he did speak with Mountainview residents.
“I represent the people who live in Mountainview, not just the people who are on the council,” Shamah said. “I’m giving everyone the right to vote on this, so I’m representing them by the best of my ability.”
Shamah is the president of the Binghamton Review and a member of the Assembly Rules Committee, which reviewed and approved the amendment Nov. 19, with a vote of 7 to 2.
According to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Binghamton University Vice President for Academic Affairs Brian Rose was considering speaking in defense of the VPMA Monday, but will not.
Some group members who value the VPMA position support the amendment continuing to the next step. Jared Kirschenbaum of Newing College Council, who is also the executive vice president of Hillel, sponsored the amendment Monday.
“I am for [the VPMA], I think it’s extremely beneficial to this community,” he said. “But democracy is more important.”
Whether a vote would put the issue to bed is also a point of disagreement. Belly said she believed that the VPMA will always be scrutinized. Landau said the issue had taken over student government for the last three weeks, and that he wanted to return to other issues.
“The focus should be on the budget, the focus should be on tuition,” he said. “I don’t think [Monday’s] a good day for the SA.”