Congress Updates

by The Cowl Editor on February 7, 2019


National and Global News


by Margaret Mahoney ’21

Student Congress Publicity

Student Congress met on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 and welcomed two guest speakers. 

The first speaker was a representative from the Rhode Island Blood Center who spoke to Congress about the critical need for blood and the blood drive happening on campus Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The second guest speaker was Shan Mukhtar, director for the Center at Moore Hall. Mukhtar presented to Student Congress on the purpose of the Center at Moore Hall, which is to help “creative approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through arts and culture.”

This goal is approached by the Center at Moore Hall and the Office of Institutional Diversity in four sub-goals. The first sub-goal of the Center is to foster an “affirming and ethically and critically engaged space” through encouraging students to share their ideas for the Center and creating affinity group dialogues and collaboration-focused events. 

Additionally, Mukhtar said they are working to achieve this goal by making the Center at Moore Hall more inviting and by offering free tea, coffee, and snacks, in the Community Kitchen and Arts Café. 

The second goal of the Center is to promote shared experiences of artistic and cultural forms, by hosting various programs involving poetry, urban dance, and visual arts. 

The third goal of the Center is to advance deeper intellectual inquiry through partnerships with Campus Ministry and Feinstein Academic Center. 

The final sub-goal of the Center at Moore Hall is focused on “solving problems correctly,” specifically focusing on initiating dialogue and debates on  non-violence, racial bias, and restorative justice training. 

Following the guest speakers’ presentations, Student Congress approved spring allocations for club funding and a piece presented last week regarding recycling in residence halls was postponed indefinitely. 

Members of the Legislative Affairs Committee presented a piece to organize the process of presenting legislation.