The Graduate Student Council (GSC) voted unanimously last Monday to compel the University to investigate and apologize for using AI to alter three students’ appearances in promotional materials.
The joint resolution — which previously passed the Undergraduate Senate (UGS) unanimously — reflects demands that affected students previously made and calls on the University to review whether other student imagery was altered with AI.
“We worked very closely with the three students who were changed in the photo to create this bill,” said Undergraduate Senator Laila Ali as she presented the resolution.
The bill also demands acknowledgement of the rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the University, as well as efforts to reinstate them. It further calls for efforts aimed at “restoring and protecting funding for community centers and ethnic theme houses while removing the barriers that make cultural programming harder to sustain.”
GSC also voted unanimously for a joint resolution to support reforming career education at Stanford.
The bill passed UGS unanimously and urges Stanford Career Education (CareerEd) to “achieve meaningful parity in employer programming, including ensuring that public service, government, nonprofit, and smaller mission-driven employers receive comparable visibility in primary career fairs, job boards, and outreach communications.”
CareerEd currently does not have a director and is in an interim period. While giving background on the bill, Ali framed the situation as an opportunity for students.
“We’re really hoping that us students can rally behind this cause when the new director comes in,” Ali said, “so that Career Education knows that this is something that is important to students.”
The resolution emphasized that career funnelling is preventable. “A university whose mission centers on public contribution has an affirmative obligation to ensure its career infrastructure reflects that mission,” the bill said.
The session also saw the election and swearing in of second-year Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Soy Choi as the newest councilmember on GSC.
“Trying to communicate with the student body and representing the student body has been a meaningful part of my life for several years and I’d really like to bring that experience to Stanford,” Choi said. Choi also assumed the role of co-treasurer shortly after being sworn in.
Other bills that were considered as prior notice included one that would call on the University to improve campus Wi-Fi capabilities. The bill would urge University IT to create “a dedicated wireless network, ‘Stanford Students,’ for student personal use.”
GSC was also given prior notice on a bill that would compel the University to bolster sexual assault prevention education and accountability. The bill follows the University’s decision to remove Beyond Sex Ed and cut Flip the Script earlier this year.