We believe in giving credit where credit is due. The people and organizations in red are ones we’ve met with personally to recognize their hard work and ensure that as many voices as possible are included in our platform.
Removing Financial Barriers
No student should have to avoid a Stanford class or activity because they can’t afford it. We’re advocating for:
- Removing hidden course fees. Few classes publicize the fees associated with their courses, which makes it impossible for financial aid to help offset these costs. Isaiah has worked with the Financial Aid Office to find solutions to this challenge, including:
- Eliminating unnecessary course fees
- Listing course fees on the student bill instead of hiding them in class syllabi
- Implementing fee waivers for FLI students
- Using free phone applications instead of iClickers
- Creating a ResEd fund for FLI Students. Paying for dorm-related fees, such as trips and clothing, can be stressful for FLI students that want to participate in dorm life. We support the ongoing efforts to create a fund for FLI students to alleviate these costs.
- Affordable graduate housing. If Stanford is not willing to pay graduate students a living wage for the Bay Area, then they must provide affordable housing. International students are particularly at a disadvantage as they are subject to stringent government regulations that cap income. We will assist the Affordability Task Force with data collection and constructing recommendations to present to the Board of Trustees.
Mental Health Reform
Stanford’s mental health policies are ineffective, punitive, and outdated. In light of the recent lawsuit against Stanford, we must work towards a more humane mental health system while also addressing the wrongs that Stanford has already committed against members of the student body. We support:
- Specialized resources for residential staff. Residential staff members are trained to link Stanford students with campus resources. However, no specialized resources exist to help residential staff themselves when they are in need, even though staffing can be extremely emotionally taxing - read Isaiah's recent op-ed, co-signed by over 30 student staff members, to learn more about why. Stanford must add specialized mental health resources through ResEd to support student staff.
- A formal apology to students affected by involuntary removal. It is unacceptable that students suffering from mental health crises were involuntarily removed from campus, and we believe the administration should offer them a public apology.
- Increasing CAPS and CST resources. Despite the findings of the lawsuit, CAPS and CST remain important mental health resources for students. Unfortunately, these centers are underfunded and lack diverse staff members. We call on Stanford to not only increase the number of diverse staff, but also invest more into these programs.
Title IX Advocacy
Stanford must do more to support survivors, prevent sexual assault and relationship abuse, and streamline the reporting process. We applaud current ASSU President Shanta Katipamula's work on this front. If elected, one of our greatest priorities will be to continue this legacy of advocacy in the following ways:
- Disseminating the results of the AAU survey in a timely, clear, and comprehensive manner. Last year, Erica supported an Undergraduate Senate resolution that urged the university to adopt the Association of American Universities survey, which will allow Stanford to compare its campus climate to that of peer institutions. The results of this survey will be crucial to shaping the agenda of the SARA office - and our own agenda - as we seek to address sexual assault and harassment.
- Demystifying the Title IX process. Information is the first step in empowering students to report and to educate others on how to report. However, the Title IX process is often poorly understood. As Execs, we will continue ASSU partnerships with the Title IX and SARA offices to educate the student body and promote awareness about sexual assault and relationship abuse. These efforts should especially occur in conjunction with the dissemination of the AAU survey results.
- Improving mandatory trainings. We spoke with Somya Khare, a student staff member in the SARA Office, about ways to improve the effectiveness of Stanford’s mandatory trainings on sexual and relationship violence. We support increased accountability for Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) chairs in Greek organizations and repeated trainings for students - individuals only complete STARS trainings at the beginning of their Stanford career, and might go for years without receiving another training.
- Engaging in advocacy beyond the Stanford bubble. Our current ASSU president has recognized the need for nation-wide, collective action to fight against Betsy DeVos’s erosion of Title IX protections. We support her efforts and will use our voices beyond Stanford’s borders to advocate for survivors.
- Including Callisto in staff training. Currently, Callisto is not included in Title IX training materials for student staff members on campus, despite its utility in recording past incidents of assault. We will advocate for the adoption of this online resource into the Fall training curriculum.
- Addressing intersectional violence. Sexual and relationship violence are fundamentally tied to other systems of oppression, and survivors exist at the confluence of any and all identities. As Execs, we will ensure students of all identities have a say in our sexual and relationship violence prevention agenda, and work to highlight the experiences of queer and trans individuals, womxn of color, the disability community, and others who are traditionally excluded from dominant narratives.
Diversity & Inclusion
As two students of color, we are frustrated by the ways in which students of marginalized identities have to fight for recognition, resources, and respect on Stanford’s campus. We don’t believe in speaking for students; we believe in standing with students as tireless allies and advocates.
- The disability community should not be shuffled between various temporary spaces - we support the establishment of a permanent Disability Community Center with full staff.
- As the Who’s Teaching Us movement highlighted, Stanford can and should do better when it comes to diversity and representation among faculty and TAs.
- Prof. Shelley Correll (director of the Clayman Institute) promotes hiring practices that reduce implicit biases. The university needs to require ALL departments and programs to utilize these hiring practices - at the moment, only some do.
- We support institutionalized diversity and inclusion training - including ableism training - for all faculty members. This training should be required on a repeated basis and should include recommendations on how to consciously implement curriculum that reflects a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Creating inclusive physical classroom environments. Studies show that physical classroom environments can impact students’ senses of belonging (i.e., having lots of photos of white faculty on the walls can make students of color feel like they don’t belong). We believe that Stanford should inform its faculty about the ways that academic spaces can negatively impact students.