At its Thursday meeting, the Graduate Student Council (GSC) signed a petition from the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO) to reinstate the land acknowledgement of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe at campus-wide ceremonies, including convocation. 

SAIO co-chairs Adriana Young ’27 and Pauli’i Zidek ’27 were present at the meeting to discuss the importance of the land acknowledgement. Echoing the petition, Young noted that the University decided to abolish the acknowledgement over the summer without consulting the undergraduate population or the Muwekma Ohlone, whose ancestral territory includes Stanford’s campus.

Zidek criticized the University’s claim in the letter that the land acknowledgement was “performative” and failed to meaningfully improve the lives of the Muwekma Ohlone. 

“If you’re taking it out because you’re calling it performative, but you’re not letting any students know, you’re not telling the Muwekma Ohlone tribe, then truly you’re the one taking the performative action,” Zidek said. 

Zidek and Young added that, while a land acknowledgment is “necessary,” it must be paired with additional action to expand Stanford’s work with Native American students and staff. The bill’s list of demands includes reinstating the land acknowledgement at important University ceremonies; meeting with indigenous students and members of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe; and releasing an accountability statement acknowledging the University’s lack of communication about their decision to remove the land acknowledgement.

The Daily has reached out to the University for comment on the removal of the land acknowledgement.

Following the presentation, the GSC moved to unanimously sign the SAIO’s petition. David Sengthay ’26, chair of the Undergraduate Senate (UGS), said that the University’s removal of the land acknowledgement was emblematic of a broader chilling effect in higher education.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the changes that took place over the summer are within the same moral sentiment that they should back down on DEI and certain initiatives that the Trump administration has antagonized,” Sengthay said. 

GSC secretary Rahul Penumaka MBA ’27 M.S. ’25 said that the land acknowledgement petition was an “important issue” for the GSC. He voiced confusion about who disseminated the original letter notifying staff about the termination of the land acknowledgement — a sentiment that Young echoed in the presentation.

According to Young, the letter did not constitute “typical university action.” She said that “supposedly, [the letter] came from the president’s office, but no one signed it.” 

The GSC also passed the Joint Bill Affirming Conditional Collaboration with the Office of Community Standards (OCS) and Board on Conduct Affairs (BCA). 

Will Berriman ’26, the executive vice president of the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU), said the bill aims to push OCS and BCA to take action on reforms outlined in the Bill to Ensure Proper Interpretation and Enforcement of the OCS Charter, which the GSC adopted in May 2025.

“[The goal] is putting administration notice that this is what we want,” Berriman said. “We’ve given them a window where we can all work on this together.” 

Last week, the GSC passed an OCS joint bill confirming the election of new student panelists to the OCS. According to Sengthay, the majority of the new panelists are graduate students for the first time this year. 

This Thursday, the GSC also hosted Vice Provost for Graduate Education Kenneth Goodson in a discussion on how the University can help connect graduate students with faculty and improve the quality of graduate education. A big challenge to progress in these areas, Goodson said, is recent upheaval in higher education due to Trump administration policies.

“It’s a really stressful time in higher academia, and it’s my opinion that a lot of the stress is focused on graduate students,” Goodson said.

He pointed to cuts in funding for postgraduate programs and federal crackdowns on international students as challenges for the University. However, Goodson also noted that Stanford’s federal funding is faring well compared to other universities and discussed new projects he is developing to strengthen support for a wide range of graduate students.

“The last thing we need right now is fewer Stanford graduates,” Goodson said. “We need people like you to go out and bring your knowledge and your expertise and your skills and help the world understand how important graduate education is.” 

Sophie Nguyen contributed reporting.