In its weekly Wednesday meeting, Stanford’s Graduate Student Council (GSC) discussed an initiative to rebrand Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) and Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE). The Council also deliberated bills related to Constitutional Council nominations, increased funding for family-oriented programming and support for transgender and non-binary students.
ASSU Financial Manager and SSE CEO Lauren (LoMo) Phillips gave a presentation on rebranding the visual identities of the two organizations. The goal, she said, is to change how ASSU and SSE “brand out” to the Stanford community. According to Phillips, the full launch of a new logo and a “new ASSU” will be in April 2020.
“Not only do I want students to know who we are and what we do, but I want them to want to be involved with us,” Phillips said.
She asked GSC councilmembers for their thoughts on what students outside of ASSU think of ASSU, receiving responses ranging from “They don’t” to “Email spam.”
The council then considered three bills. The first would approve the nomination of two students to the Constitutional Council. The second would provide more funding to programming at Escondido Village for graduate student families. The third would express the Council’s support for trans and non-binary students, which is currently being considered by the Undergraduate Senate. All three bills were tabled for next meeting.
GSC co-chair and cancer biology Ph.D candidate Amy Tarangelo gave brief updates on the planning of another town hall meeting following last month’s town hall on mental health. This time, she said, the town hall will be centered on affordability. Tarangelo also reported on the Diversity & Advocacy Committee’s (DAC) progress in establishing a mental health working group.
DAC co-chair and aeronautics and astronautics Ph.D candidate Ana Tarano provided further updates from DAC, along with theater and performance studies Ph.D candidate Kari Barclay. Barclay brought up a workshop on being overworked and finding work-life balance, which he jokingly referred to as a “don’t-workshop, or a stop-working workshop.” Tarano also told GSC members that she attended a meeting for female Ph.D. students who are tackling sexual harassment in STEM departments, hosted by executive director of WISE Ventures Carol B. Muller.
In open session, GSC Social Chair and Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages Ph.D candidate Gabby Badica announced that several new Voluntary Student Organizations (VSOs) were approved. She also discussed her progress in planning a Thanksgiving event, for which each graduate student will be allowed to bring as many as seven guests.
She is also planning the “GSC Welcome Back Party,” which is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 30.
The Council approved minutes from its previous meeting and announced its expulsion of Stanford Law School representative and third-year law student Nicolas Garcia for poor attendance.
This article has been corrected to reflect that Ana Tarano attended a meeting hosted by Carol B. Muller for female Ph.D. students who are tackling sexual harassment in STEM departments; she did not host a meetup for female Ph.D stem students facing sexual harassment, as the article previously stated.
Contact Charlie Curnin at ccurnin ‘at’ stanford.edu.