At its Wednesday meeting, the Undergraduate Senate (UGS) signed a petition from the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO) to reinstate land acknowledgements at campus-wide ceremonies in accordance with the desires of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe.
A land acknowledgement, a statement that recognizes the indigenous peoples of the place where they are delivered, “is really important for [the Muwekma Ohlone] in their fight for federal recognition, and this is a key piece of, when we talked to the tribe, why they want the land acknowledgment,” said SAIO co-chair Adriana Young ’27.
According to the petition, the University announced its decision to remove land acknowledgements from campus-wide ceremonies through a letter to some administrative personnel, including department heads.
The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.
SAIO co-chair Pauli’i Zidek ’27 said that neither the student body, the tribe nor many of the faculty were informed that the land acknowledgement would be removed.
“They were specifically told not to disseminate to students, but not even the head of Native studies knew that the land acknowledgement was taken out of these big events… I feel like it signals a lot as to the lack of communication,” said Zidek.
According to SAIO’s presentation, the University said one of the reasons it removed the land acknowledgement was that it was performative and didn’t produce meaningful action. The University also cited a desire to focus on open inquiry and learning at campus-wide ceremonies and engagement in issues through research and education instead.
Zidek said that the University doesn’t have to remove the land acknowledgement in order to take other meaningful action.
“The land acknowledgement can be the first step. It can be a step towards meaningful action,” said Zidek. “Multiple things can be true at once: the land acknowledgement can be not enough and, at the same time, the first step we take.”
Following the presentation, the UGS moved to sign the SAIO’s petition as an organization, a motion which passed unanimously.
“It’s, in my mind ,an obvious reinstatement of something that has happened since before my time here at Stanford,” said UGS chair David Sengthay ’26.
The UGS also introduced the Joint Resolution to Support the Reinstatement of Stanford University’s Land Acknowledgement, a bill that restates the demands of the SAIO’s petition and encourages students to sign it. The UGS will vote on this resolution next week.
The UGS additionally passed two joint bills confirming University committee members. The Joint Bill to Confirm 2025-26 Elections Commission, which has already been passed by the Graduate Student Council (GSC), confirmed two assistant election commissioners who will oversee student government elections and provide election information. The Joint Bill to Confirm Additional Nominees to the Nominations Commission will confirm five additional members to the Nominations Commission and now moves to the GSC for a vote.
Finally, the UGS introduced the Joint Bill Affirming Conditional Collaboration With the Office of Community Standards (OCS) and Board on Conduct Affairs (BCA).
This bill states that the continued collaboration of the UGS and the GSC with the OCS and the BCA in confirming their nominees is conditional on meaningful progress in OCS reform. The bill writes that markers of meaningful progress include greater transparency with OCS case statistics, increased communication through office hours and greater enforcement of fast timelines for OCS cases.
“We’ve approved the panels for this year, so students will have timely panels, but it’s giving a time frame, so the administration knows that we will act in good faith in the system as long as they do as well,” said Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) vice president Will Berriman ’26.
Berriman said he is optimistic about OCS reform this year, having met with the interim director of OCS. professor Lawrence Marshall.
“This is really just a bill to say we recognize there is an opportunity [for reform] this year, and we’d really like both us and the administration to take advantage of it,” said Berriman.