UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDENT UNION
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
February 18, 2008
68LCR#1-SWAP
Sponsored
by: Simone
Atencio-Martinez, Arts & Sciences Senator
Christina Prairie Chicken,
Representative-at-Large
Dustin Farivar, Vice
President
Authored by:
Abby Shepard,
student-at-large
Claudia Ebel,
student-at-large
Andrew Riccio, student-at-large
Taylor Levy,
student-at-large
Hadley Brown,
Tri-Executive
Resolution
in Support of the Student Worker Alliance Program (SWAP)
________________________________________________________________________
Resolution History
As one of the largest public institutions and employers in the state, CU draws students and employees from diverse backgrounds to both study and work. In this multi-cultural environment, there exists a separation between students, many of whom come from privileged backgrounds to CU for specialized degrees, and workers, many of whom are immigrants. Much of the incredibly vital work of entry-level employees, including cooking, cleaning, and general maintenance, is undervalued and rendered invisible by many students. Just as relationships within the student body are highly impacted by ignorance about economic and racial privilege, relationships between workers and many students are characterized by disrespect, intercultural ignorance, and an absence of dialogue. Our University is thus faced with challenges to become more equitable and to serve the needs of the entire campus community.
The Student Worker Alliance Program (SWAP) is a student-run, grassroots initiative that builds bridges of support and solidarity between CU students and campus employees. SWAP’s primary concern is to assist entry-level and immigrant employees who speak very little to no English, and are therefore profoundly restricted on a dominantly English-speaking campus. It offers free resources for CU workers, such as English classes, literacy tutoring, translation services, and tutoring for those earning their GED certification. In order to build the infrastructure for these services, SWAP has partnered with many campus departments and community organizations, including, but not limited to: the Anderson Language Technology Center (ALTEC); local non-profit Intercambio de Communidades; the BUENO Center, a bilingual education program in the CU School of Education; INVST Community Leadership Program; Colorado WINS; the CU Department of Human Resources; the Service Learning Department; CU Housing and Dining Services; as well as Cost Center administrators at the UMC, Recreation Center, and Wardenburg Health Center.
The scope of SWAP’s resources is unprecedented in CU’s history. Since the beginning of fall semester 2007, SWAP has organized classes for over 100 CU workers, and trained over 100 students to teach the classes. Through the approval of campus supervisors, classes are held two hours every week during the workday to maximize accessibility for workers’ and students’ schedules.
________________________________________________________________________
Resolution Summary
Whereas, The University should be a place that aims to improve the lives and provide a safe, enriching educational experience for its students and its employees; and
Whereas, The publication of racist articles like the Campus Press’ recent article entitled, “No Hablo Ingles: Try Speaking English, this is the United States” illuminates students’ ignorance about issues such as language discrimination, bilingual education, and the realities that immigrants and immigrant workers face; and
Whereas, UCSU recognizes the necessity for CU to invest more in educational programs that address privilege and oppression in our communities and that value cross-cultural community; and
Whereas, SWAP is a grassroots, student-run initiative that builds supportive relationships between campus students and employees, and its student-taught English classes were developed by students and workers in response to some workers’ substantial need for affordable and accessible English language learning opportunities; and
Whereas, Through participation in SWAP, students are afforded an educational environment that enriches their leadership and personal investment in CU, and expands their understanding of social justice, diversity, the local community, and the world; and
Whereas, SWAP is currently developing an undergraduate course in conjunction with the BUENO Center and the Education, Service Learning, and Linguistics departments, that will help CU students become active in their community through diversity education and community outreach skills; and
Whereas, The sustainability and expansion of SWAP and related programs would be greatly buttressed by a pledge of support and advocacy from CU student representatives.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislative Council of the University
of Colorado Student Union, THAT:
Section 1, UCSU recognizes that there generally exists a severe issue of separation between the worker community and the student community on the CU Boulder campus, and that this issue must be addressed if we are to create a more inclusive campus community.
Section 2, UCSU will continue to advocate for the establishment of sorely-needed diversity-education programs and for greater investment in those that already exist on campus.
Section 3, UCSU strongly supports
the further expansion of the intercultural and educational community-building
services provided by SWAP.
Section 4, UCSU commends SWAP students and workers and encourages the continued support from University administrators and departments for SWAP’s efforts to unite the campus community through education.
Section 5, UCSU recognizes the difficulty for students to solely maintain and expand a program of this magnitude; thus, UCSU urges the University of Colorado to provide additional support as defined by students.
Vote Count:
1/31/08 Passed Acclamation
2/28/08 Passed 14-1-2
____________________________ __________________________________
Sara Martinez Davine,
Tri-executive Charles
Gilford III, Tri-executive
____________________________ __________________________________
Hadley Brown, Tri-executive Boyce Postma, Legislative Council President