The Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution Sunday encouraging the university to designate the second Monday of each October as Indigenous Peoples Day in addition to Columbus Day.
The resolution encourages the AU community to enhance understanding of Native Americans' achievements and contributions to the United States and AU, according to the resolution.
"Columbus is not an individual that should be recognized, and this is very offensive to Native American people that he is glorified," said Carrie Johnson, president of Student Advocates for Native Communities.
The original resolution, sponsored by Class of 2010 Senator Julie Mills, did not specify if Indigenous Peoples Day should replace Columbus Day or if the two holidays should co-exist.
However, Class of 2010 Senator Andrew Woods proposed an amendment to the resolution to encourage the university to recognize both holidays.
Recognizing both holidays would honor the contributions of indigenous peoples and Italian Americans, said Class of 2008 Senator and Eagle staff writer Brian Kalish, who spoke in favor of the amendment. Many Italian Americans celebrate their heritage on Columbus Day, he added.
"I feel it satisfies both parties because [the resolution] became too much anti-Columbus," he said.
Mills said she did not vote for the amendment because she thought it was unnecessary.
"I don't feel like this resolution at all addressed Christopher Columbus, so I don't feel we needed to add it," she said.
Class of 2011 Senator and Eagle photographer Nick Troiano said he did not support the amendment to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day on the same day as Columbus Day.
"I'm against having them on the same day because they are mutually exclusive," he said.
Class of 2009 Senator David Cunningham proposed an amendment to encourage the university to designate the third Monday of each October Indigenous Peoples Day instead of the second Monday. However, Cunningham withdrew the amendment.
Johnson did not intend for the resolution to offend Italian Americans, she said.
"SANC was not making an attack on Italian Americans, we were trying to resolve honoring a particular individual," Johnson said.
SANC tabled on the quad last week, gathering signatures for a petition in support of the resolution and handed out bracelets to raise awareness, said Amy Chin, a freshman in the School of Communication and member of SANC. The group also distributed a "Myth vs. Fact" flier that questioned Columbus' heroism.
The flyer cited examples of Columbus and his men killing natives by "stringing them up on gallows" and "hacking them to pieces."
Chin said she thought the group got a good reaction from students on the quad.
"[Students] can see that this man should not be a hero," she said.
History cannot absolve Columbus of his actions because he lived in a different time period, Johnson said.
"People may counter what we're doing by asking if it's fair to hold him to our standards of today, but genocide is genocide," she said.
While Columbus' arrival in the Americas was a success for the Europeans, it ended the culture and civilization of the indigenous peoples, said Margaret Weekes, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Public Affairs.
"I think it's really a problem if we don't recognize that this was genocide for the people who were already here," Weekes said.
SANC has also been lobbying Congress to rename Columbus Day "Native American Day." Native American Day has a higher likelihood of success nationwide than Indigenous People Day because of the support it garners from recognized tribes, Johnson said.
SANC has met with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. South Dakota and Minnesota are the only states that currently recognize Native American Day.
SANC will host a panel titled "Columbus Day from a Native Perspective" on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the School of International Service Lounge.
