All Student Government members will be required to undergo Safe Space Training under a new bill passed by the Undergraduate Senate on Feb. 9. If approved by SG President Pat Kelly, the bill will take effect next semester.
Safe Space training, offered by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, is a three-hour program that seeks to teach people about issues facing the LGBT community and how to create a safe, welcoming environment for all students, according to the program’s website.
The bill mandates that all members of SG complete the training to instill greater knowledge and awareness of the LGBT students they are representing, according to the bill.
The bill is an expansion of a previous bill that required only members of the Senate to attend training.
The passage of the bill followed a lengthy debate among senators over whether to include a clause allowing for religious exemptions from the training. To be included in the exemption, students would have been required to submit a formal declaration of objection, according to the clause.
Class of 2017 Senator Jamie MacRitchie was one of the biggest advocates for the clause, saying exemptions were necessary to represent the views of students of all backgrounds.
“At stake here is the rights of the minority of students who feel that they are being harmed by [the training] or that they are being put in a compromising position,” MacRitchie said.
Following a heated debate, as well as Kelly’s announcement that he would veto the bill if it included the exemption clause, the amendment was removed.
Class of 2016 Senator Alex Bradley said the lengthy debate over internal reforms reaffirmed his belief that the senate was lacking in its job to advocate for students.
“We need to remember why we are here,” Bradley said. “We’re not here to talk about rules that the senate follows. We’re here to support students and advocate for them.”
