The University of Michigan Central Student Government held a meeting Tuesday to elect representatives to leadership positions. The Student Assembly also introduced and passed Assembly Resolution AR 14-001, the “Defund, Disclose, Divest” Act, and introduced AR 14-003, the CSG Divestment Act.
The meeting began with the appointment of Business freshman Sharon Thomas as Secretary Pro Tempore, who will preside as Secretary until one is hired. This was not subject to a vote. Following the appointment, the Assembly held a vote to ratify the election for Speaker. The Speaker was elected in CSG’s previous April 9 meeting, but could not be ratified because all representatives of the SHUT IT DOWN party were absent, meaning that they could not meet quorum.
The Assembly then elected the speaker and vice speaker and the chairs and vice chairs of each CSG committee. The results of these elections are listed below:
- LSA junior Mario Thaqi was elected Speaker.
- LSA sophomore Eric Veal Jr. was elected Vice Speaker.
- LSA sophomore Julia Odhiambo was elected DEI Coordinator.
- Rackham student Stefan Nielsen was elected Rules Committee Chair.
- Business sophomore Nate Cohen was elected Finance Committee Chair.
- Education sophomore Nadeen Elkordy was elected Finance Committee Chair.
- Public Policy junior Cory Knittle was elected Communications Committee Chair.
- Business sophomore Emily Ryan was elected Executive Nominations Committee Chair.
- Rackham student Nicolas Juarez was elected Ethics Committee Chair.
- Rackham student Hayden Jackson was elected Student Organization Committee Vice Director.
- Rackham student Erin Neely was elected Rules Committee Vice Chair.
- Engineering freshman Nina Clark was elected Finance Committee Vice Chair.
- LSA freshman Margaret Peterman was elected Resolutions Committee Vice Chair.
- Nursing freshman Jack Brummer was elected Communications Committee Vice Chair.
- LSA freshman Lucas Korn was elected Executive Nominations Committee Vice Chair.
- Dentistry student Delasi Denoo was elected Ethics Committee Vice Chair.
- LSA freshman Amr Brown was elected Students of Michigan Legislative Delegate.
Thaqi said as Speaker, he hopes to increase inclusivity and diversity within CSG and the U-M campus community.
“We need to be bringing people into this body that come from diverse backgrounds,” Thaqi said. “We need to get all these people to the table because without it, we just keep the same kind of demographic profile, the same kind of thought profile that we’ve had in the past. We’re not going to be making change that’s relevant for the student body and that helps everyone regardless of where they fall ideologically, where they fall identity-wise.”
CSG then opened the floor to community concerns. Ann Arbor community members Blaine Coleman and Mozhgan Savabieasfahani encouraged the Assembly to pressure the University to divest from companies profiting off of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“Please, please use your opportunity, your humanity, your hearts and do something, pass a strong resolution, as strong as you can,” Savabieasfahani said. “Push harder because there is no other emergency in your lifetime. There will never be anything like this in human history. This is your time.”
Following community concerns, resolution AR14-001, the “Defund, Disclose, Divest” Act, was both introduced and passed during the meeting. The resolution calls on the University to defund the University of Michigan Police Department, disclose all investments and divest from companies funding or profiting from the murder of Palestinians and the U.S. prison and policing system. The resolution passed with 21 in favor, 10 against and five abstentions. Representative Jad Halabi introduced the resolution.
“These three intertwined demands that the University to defund, disclose and divest will not be won by a declaratory resolution in CSG,” Halabi said. “These are not new demands. We have seen the University is all too willing to ignore the voices of its students. As such, we are passing this resolution not for them, but for us, symbolically, a resolution to remind us what we are fighting for and what we will one day win.”
AR14-003, the CSG Divestment Act, was also introduced at the meeting. This resolution proposed to amend the Compiled Code so that both CSG and student organizations that use CSG funding cannot spend funds on goods or services from companies that fund or profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Representatives will have the opportunity to motion to vote on passing AR14-003 in future CSG meetings. Representative Kaitlin Karmen introduced the resolution.
“Just to briefly introduce what the CSG Divestment Act is, so this is kind of piggybacking off the Defund, Disclose, Divest resolution, and this specifically addresses (CSG) funding for two things, the first being that CSG will not use funds on organizations that fund or profit from the occupation of Palestine, U.S. imperial violence, or the carceral criminal justice system,” Karmen said. “It also stipulates that student organizations that receive CSG funding not spend it on similar organizations or businesses.”
Daily Staff Reporter Anna Jerolimov can be reached at annajero@umich.edu.