BUZZ
‘Frustrated’ at more ‘frequent and stringent’ Student Activities Office policy
Various Brown University “identity groups” aren’t happy with the campus Student Activities Office making sure their event descriptions and club constitutions indicate they’re open to everyone.
According to The Brown Daily Herald, “as of this semester” all university student groups must review their constitutions to note they welcome all undergraduates, and to include an “anti-harassment and discrimination statement.”
Members of some organizations expressed “frustration” at the “more frequent and stringent” policy.
Lyriq Turner of the Black Pre-Med Society noted the group ended up removing “Black” from an event summary which had read “showcase of Black pre-professional clubs.”
Turner said there’s nothing “exclusive” about her organization, it “just happens to be our identity: people who are Black who are interested in medicine.” She called the heightened SAO oversight “concerning.”
The description of the Black Pre-Law Association had read “specializes in uplifting minority students entering the legal field,” but after SAO intervention was changed to “an organization open to all Brown students who embrace the mission of counteracting challenges minority students encounter when entering the legal field.”
The group’s president, Isabella Clarke, said the change “mak[es] it harder” to advertise resources which are targeted to black students.
Earlier in the year the student humor publication The Rib of Brown altered its original “goal” of “uplift[ing] the voices of women and people with other marginalized genders.” The current version doesn’t look much different, however: “We aim to create a diverse, awesome, and hilarious team of writers that consists of people who identify as women or other marginalized genders.”
Rib Editor Sophia Plaschke nonetheless expressed concern that the humor outlet’s “reputation” as a safe space for the demographics indicated will change due to SAO oversight.
Also earlier this year, the Brown Outing Club had to edit an advertisement for a “Women’s Rock Climbing Trip” to “Rock Spot Climbing Trip.”
The Herald report notes the SAO review “comes amid the Trump administration’s targeting of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at higher education institutions nationwide.”
The administration had frozen federal monies for Brown “over alleged DEI programming” and other issues; the university reached an agreement with this summer in which it, among other things, agreed to stop offering “gender-affirming care” for minors, protect women’s sports, and do more regarding antisemitism.
