Student Association executive board members are planning amendments to strengthen the position of vice president for multicultural affairs, just months after students rallied to try to save the office.
Last semester an amendment was proposed which, if passed, would have put the fate of the VPMA position up to a campus referendum. The amendment, submitted by Mountainview College Assembly representative Adam Shamah, crossed out all mentions of the position in the SA constitution.
But SA President Matt Landau wants to keep the post.
“I’m proposing a constitutional amendment to the position that would create five more jobs for the VPMA, doubling the position’s responsibility,” Landau said.
Changes to the position are part of current VPMA Maryam Belly’s seven-point plan. In addition to these changes, Belly said she planned to create a Student Association anti-defamation board to handle instances of hate crimes on campus.
“Matt took those ideas and incorporated them into the amendment,” Belly said. “I am happy with the changes being made.”
The amendment will be proposed to the Assembly Rules Committee within the next week, Landau said. If the amendment is passed, then it will be put on the ballot during the SA executive board vote in March.
Six e-board positions for the SA will remain in this semester’s upcoming elections.
According to Landau, the new jobs and responsibilities of the VPMA include working with the academic vice president, the multicultural research center and other educational opportunity programs.
“I think that by passing the amendment, the VPMA position will be solidified and it will be a strong position,” Landau said. “One that will hopefully not be questioned again.”
Landau said he thought the only thing that could stop the amendment from passing would be politics played during the SA elections.
Belly’s initial plan was to change the name of the VPMA position since its history is full of so many controversies, but she later decided against it.
“Part of understanding the position is realizing its history,” Belly said. “The constitution initially took away a lot of the powers. I am trying to bring back what the VPMA is supposed to stand for — advocacy for all student groups.”
Landau said he first announced the future amendment to the position at Monday’s Assembly meeting.
“I do not know how Adam Shamah will vote,” Landau said. “I would hope he would vote yes for the amendment.”
Shamah said that though he hadn’t seen the actual text of the amendment, the amendment’s authors don’t address the underlying problem.
“I haven’t seen the actual text of the amendment, but they [the amendment’s authors] don’t actually address the underlying problem,” Shamah said. “The amendment reassigns the responsibilities of other executive board members. The way to fix the position is to give it a new identity of its own, but it won’t be fixed by reassigning the responsibilities of other positions.”
He does support the amendment regarding changes to the position going to referendum, but will vote against it because “it is just giving the position powers that other e-board members already hold.”
Shamah said he thought the underlying problem is that the position has no responsibilities of its own. He plans to run for the position of VPMA during this semester’s election, though his platform is not yet announced.
Belly does not think that the conflict surrounding the VPMA position will continue after this amendment is made.
“I am not too worried about the conflict coming back up next semester, especially since the person who wrote the amendment against the position plans to run for it,” Belly said. “I think it is pitiful for him on the one hand to say the position is not necessary, then on the other hand to run for it.”