Four weeks into autumn quarter, the ASSU’s Community Action Board (CAB) remains in its “quiet change” stage, according to ASSU Vice President Stewart Macgregor-Dennis ’13.
The ASSU announced the creation of the CAB spring quarter last year. According to its blueprint posted on the ASSU website, the CAB held its first meeting the second week of school and is currently planning its first campus-wide event to be held during mid November.
The CAB, chaired by Aracely Mondragon ’13, represents 23 on-campus communities. According to the CAB website, the represented communities for the 2011-12 academic year include African American Fraternal and Sororal Association, the API community, the African American community, the Chicano/Latino community, the Christian community, the Corporate Diversity Leadership Coalition, the First Generation and Low-Income community, the Interfraternal Greek community, the Interfaith/Religious community, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, the Multicultural Greek community, the Muslim community, the Native community, the Polynesian community, the Power to ACT: Abilities Coming Together community, the Student-Athletes community, the Women’s community and the Undefined/Undetermined community.
Though the CAB does not represent every community on campus, board representatives believe the Board’s creation is a step in the right direction.
“There are many communities on campus and we recognize that not everyone is represented on the board,” the CAB said in a joint statement to The Daily. “Thus we strive to work with existing resources that are already aimed at the entire student body in hopes of engaging as many students as possible.”
The Community Board said that its primary goals are to align and work with existing resources on campus, to streamline communication between communities and their CAB representatives, to encourage dialogue within the board and across campus about the definition of “community,” and to increase awareness about the different communities on campus.
According to Michael Cruz ’12, ASSU President, the CAB has been working on “cross-community initiatives and projects within their community.” Cruz cited last week’s Disability Resource Fair as an example of one of the CAB’s initiatives, describing the event as a “great success.” The CAB hopes that through its projects and increased communication, the Board will foster greater understanding and tolerance within the larger Stanford community.
Many members of the communities represented on the board, when interviewed by The Daily, knew little of the board’s purpose. Some were unaware of the board’s existence.
“I actually don’t know anything about the ASSU Community Board besides the fact that it exists, since I know the representative for the Christian community personally,” said Josh Wong ’14, a member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. “I am not aware of any communication yet between the board and Christian community members. I doubt most community members even know about the board at all.”
Macgregor-Dennis attributed this apparent general lack of knowledge among students about the CAB to the fact that the board is currently working behind the scenes. He said he expects the board to launch an outreach initiative sometime during winter quarter.