Ilana Weisman, Vice President for Equity & Outreach

Ilana.Weisman@duke.edu
Equity & Outreach Committee, 2015 2016 Agenda
Duke Student Government
October 2015
New Initiatives
Student conduct clarification and reform: Noted as the top student priority
by house council presidents, E&O has begun surveying students and hosting
focus groups to discuss the Office of Student Conducts policies and
procedures, as well as personal experiences with the conduct process. E&O
will attempt to clarify changes made to the student body, as well as will
lobby for reforms to the amended appellate process, such as for the ability
to challenge sanctions, an extended period for new evidence, and bringing
back mistrial hearings. E&O will also push for more consistent procedural
adherence, defining of students rights, sanctioning guidelines, and greater
transparency.
Converting single-occupancy restrooms to gender-neutrality: E&O has
partnered with Blue Devils United to record all unnecessarily gendered
single-stall or single-occupancy restrooms on campus so as to change
signage to make them accessible to all genders. Having received a positive
response from John Noonans team, E&O will continue to conduct campus
walkthroughs and research peer institutions signage so we can try to get
restrooms converted by the 2016-2017 school year.
Streamlining self-identification of pronouns and gender: E&O is currently
working with the Registrar, Bursar, SISS/ACES, Admissions, and CSGD to
allow students to choose their pronouns and gender on official university
records, much like how they can choose a preferred name versus their
legal name. We are in the process of figuring out logistics of implementation
and consistency for students to self-select their identity markers, likely postmatriculation.
Creating a sexual health resource center: As a long-term project, E&O is
innovating a student-staffed, peer advisory sexual health center modeled
after a similar resource at Stanford. We are working with the Wellness
Center to accumulate campus sexuality resources and plan a house course
to train student advisors; we hope to pilot the program in Fall 2016 before
hopefully moving into the new Student Health building in 2017. E&O is in
the process of finding materials, assessing financial needs, and creating
sustainability plans for the proposed center. To prepare, we are planning
pop-up centers next semester, particularly at large events (K-Ville, LDOC).
This center will also be a potential location for free menstrual hygiene
product distribution if in-bathroom dispensers are not viable.

Ilana Weisman, Vice President for Equity & Outreach

Ilana.Weisman@duke.edu
Opening socioeconomic dialogues: A recurring E&O conversation involves
brainstorming innovative ways to open discussions about socioeconomic
status that can mimic the free-flowing ones we have about gender, sexuality,
and culture on campus. Were looking into rebranding groups and events to
highlight the free aspect rather than open feature; starting a microgrant program for student activity costs that cannot be covered by UCAE,
the travel fund, or SOFC; and including a SES feature during Orientation
Week or Blue Devil Days.
Other mid-priority projects Equity & Outreach senators will be working on
next semester include lobbying for free menstrual hygiene products,
creating an interfaith worship space on East Campus, starting a queer
orientation or pre-orientation program, and further retooling Orientation
Week to better promote diversity and inclusion. First-year senators will also
be carrying out a project or policy aimed at their class.
Continuing Initiatives
Sexual misconduct policy clarification and reform: In a continuation of
E&Os efforts last year, we will work to support OSCs revisions to the
student sexual misconduct policy and further clarify policies to students
through an expanded Q+A section, updated flowcharts, and increased
distribution channels. We will be compiling a complainants rights
handout for sexual assault survivors to access before entering any conduct
process. On the reform side, we will survey survivors and the general
student body to gauge interest in removing students from sexual
misconduct panels and will explore alternate panel composition options,
comparing ours to those of peer institutions. Moreover, E&O is working
with the Residential Life committee to include extended and amended Title
IX training for RAs and to alter Orientation Week to reflect such meaningful
discussions about sexuality and sexual misconduct.
Mental health outreach: After a successful yet fatiguing Mental Health
Awareness Month in February 2015, E&O decided to split mental health
efforts into two Mental Health Awareness Weeks while continuing policy
pushes and supporting the Duke chapter of the National Alliance for Mental
Illness. E&O is working with the Services Committee to lobby for CAPS
online registration, extended evening hours, and group therapy offerings.
We also hope to work with Admissions to create an extra Blue Devil Days
session about mental health and wellness on campus, or include such topics
as an add-on to an existing health and safety session.
Cultural Outreach:

Ilana Weisman, Vice President for Equity & Outreach

Ilana.Weisman@duke.edu
DSG is creating a mandatory diversity and inclusion training for student
group leaders that will connect approximately 1,200 students to identity
centers on campus.
Each member of the committee has been trained to be a DSG pin person
for cultural and identity marker groups on campus so as to better foster
communication and collaboration between groups, as well as to begin to
outsource programming. Upcoming programs coordinated through this
effort include a workshop series How To Be A Better Ally and
faculty/student Intersectionality Panels. Similarly, E&O is working on Social
Justice Fellowship follow-through with Black Student Alliance to form the
grant oversight body comprised of cultural representatives from various
student groups on campus to distribute funds allocated by Dr. Moneta and
DSG in April of last year. The committee will establish its own rules of
procedure and guidelines for submissions, which will be gathered during
the spring semester.