<p> MINUTES OF THE PLENARY MEETING OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT SENATE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK</p><p>HELD</p><p>May 27th, 2012</p><p>AT THE USS OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM: 101 WEST 31ST STREET, 12TH FLOOR—BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN</p><p>The Chairperson called an informal meeting to order at 2:09 P.M.</p><p>There were present: </p><p>2011-2012 Delegates & Alternates: Jermaine Morris (Borough of Manhattan Community College First Delegate) Jemell Henderson (Borough of Manhattan Community College First Alternate) Kafui Kouakou (Brooklyn College Graduate Delegate) Muhammad Waqar Arshad (City College Second Delegate) Michael Cruz (Hostos Community College First Delegate) Sandra May Flowers (Hostos Community College Second Delegate) Herminio Torres (Hostos Community College Second Alternate) Maya Shkolnik (Hunter College First Delegate) Dennis Hardy (Kingsborough Community College First Delegate) Atiba Yarde (Kingsborough Community College Second Delegate) Cid Dominique (Kingsborough Community College First Alternate) Jennifer Fernandez (Kingsborough Community College Second Alternate) Whitney Brown (John Jay College Graduate Alternate) Brandon Clarke (LaGuardia Community College First Delegate) Mohammed Samra (LaGuardia Community College Second Delegate) Donovan Borington (LaGuardia Community College First Alternate) Oluwadamisi Atanda (Queensborough Community College First Delegate) Leilani Blira-Koessler (Queensborough Community College Second Alternate) Clairsline Plaisir (New York City College of Technology First Alternate) Liliete Lopez (Queens College Second Delegate) James Robinson (Queens College Second Alternate) Christina Nadler (CUNY Graduate Center Delegate) Colin Ashley (CUNY Graduate Center Alternate)</p><p>Office of Student Affairs: Dr. Christopher Rosa, Dean of Student Affairs Charmaine Worthy, University Coordinator of Student Activities University Student Senate: Okenfe Lebarty, Executive Director Fernando Araujo, Budget Director Kareem Morales, Project Coordinator</p><p>I. Roll Call Due to a lack of quorum, with 13 members present, Chairman Kouakou begins unofficial discussions at 2:09 pm, beginning with a presentation.</p><p>Chairman Kouakou introduces two guests from the UN National Staff Presidents office to discuss the crisis in the Congo. They begin by showing a video presentation and follow by discussing some of the details of the situation. Their goal is to make CUNY aware of the situation and to assist CUNY/USS in creating a petition of support of human rights issues in Africa to send to the President of the United States.</p><p>Roll call at 2:22pm 13 members are present</p><p>Unofficial Discussion – Chairperson’s Report: Chairman Kouakou informs the Senate that the concert at Hunter College was successful. He also invites members of the Senate to the Puerto Rican Day Parade will be taking place June 10th. He recently attended the Board of Education Higher Education Committee and spoke with the members about the changes in financial aid and the doubling of student loan interest rates. He reported that there will be no changes to TAP for the foreseeable future. </p><p>Sen. Clarke inquires about the date when CUNY Bursars offices will announce tuition increases. Chairman Kouakou states that notification will be made before registration. Sen. Clarke urges that the information be disseminated in a timely fashion due to the transition into the CUNY First system. The Chairman agreed and promised to make that recommendation to VC Sanchez the next time they meet.</p><p>Vice Chair May-Flowers Report: See attached. </p><p>Vice Chair Lopez’s Report: VC Lopez discusses the upcoming events in the coming weeks. She also informed the Senate that she had received awards at the VC Awards and at the Passing the Torch Awards Ceremony at Hostos Community College. She also participated with CCSD in the annual AIDS Walk.</p><p>Vice Chair Samra’s Report: VC Samra assisted in putting together the school referendum for LaGuardia that just got passed. Now they will have basketball, tennis, and swimming teams coming to the school by Tuesday, May 29th.</p><p>Sen. Atanda states that there should be more of a collective CUNY representation from the Vice Chairs, for they represent all of the campuses, not just their own.</p><p>2 II. Open Discussions/ Announcements Sen. Nader met with the treasurer’s office in hopes that an audit will be out with a report this summer. The audit committee will be putting together a report on whether expenditures were in accordance with the Fiscal Accountability Handbook and also whether these items were even appropriate to purchase.</p><p>Sen. Henderson expressed his gratitude for students coming out to the meeting and their continued service to the students of CUNY.</p><p>Sen. Robinson announced that he will be marching in the Gay Pride Parade on June 24th, 2012.</p><p>Chairman Kouakou informed the Senate that Brooklyn College students were arrested in a protest and that the school has pressed charges against them. Sen. Clarke then reads a summary of the events from an article, which is attached to these minutes. He is troubled by the trend of hyping up or militarizing of CUNY school safety when non-violent protests are taking place. He believes that students should be allowed to protest and display disagreements without the fear of violent recourse. Sen. Ashley and Sen. Nadler are grateful for these sentiments and are grateful to Sen. Clarke for bringing this matter to the Senate.</p><p>Chairman Kouakou still intends to meet with the VP of Student Affairs in regards to the matter. Sen. Robinson states that he saw the videos of the events and he believes the response from School Safety was excessive and disproportionate. Sen. Brown states that John Jay student officers have actually been replaced by regular peace officers. She feels that this symbolizes a turn towards the militarization of school safety which should to be addressed on the CUNY wide level. </p><p>Sen. Nadler states that the BOT voted to increase the public safety budget in November. The students of USS, particularly the most highly decorated ones, have a special responsibility in joining these protests and standing in solidarity with other student rallies. Sen. Clarke believes that CUNY’s public imaged is being marred by the actions of public safety, suggesting that CUNY should also have an interest in reeling them in. </p><p>Sen. Atanda stated that the CUNY Public Hearing at Hostos Community College will be taking place June 18th, 2012 at 5pm.</p><p>III.Ajournement. The meeting was adjourned at 3:30pm</p><p>______Chairperson, Secretary, Kafui Kouakou Kareem Morales</p><p>3</p>