ASUO Sen. Jairo Castaneda didn’t show up to last week’s Wednesday Senate meeting, not because he had other plans for Cinco de Mayo, but in an act of protest.
A week earlier at the April 28 Senate meeting, Sen. Ben Fisher joked to the club women’s lacrosse team, which was requesting funding to compete in Arizona, not to forget their birth certificates, making reference to Arizona’s recently passed law aimed at reducing illegal immigration. The bill makes it illegal for immigrants not to carry immigration documents and gives police officers more leeway in questioning people they suspect of being illegal immigrants. Though some senators and audience members laughed at the remark, Castaneda and Sen. Liliana Villanueva found it offensive and left the meeting.
Castaneda said he was not present at the May 5 meeting because of “the climate that allows things like this to be said.” He met criticism, both for taking Fisher’s remark too seriously and for his absence at the May 5 meeting.
Fisher later apologized and said the joke was made to criticize the immigration law, which he and Castaneda both say they oppose.
It doesn’t matter whether the joke was funny; it could be construed as offensive and did not contribute to the culture of respect the ASUO aims to create.
Castaneda should be commended for standing up for his beliefs, which any member of government should be expected to do. By standing up for his beliefs in a smaller, isolated incident such as this, Castaneda showed he can do the same on a larger scale. Some considered skipping a meeting in protest irresponsible, but Castaneda was defending the principle of keeping Senate a welcoming, respectful environment, not only for other members of the ASUO but for students and student groups when they attend Senate meetings — whether it’s for a funding request or to show support for something they believe in. The University, the ASUO and the Senate should be safe environments, but that cannot exist if anyone feels alienated.
The University makes diversity a priority through retention efforts and numerous student groups and cultural events. The ASUO even has a Diversity Action Committee that prepared a Diversity Action Plan. With all this emphasis on diversity, one would think ASUO senators would heed their own advice and show more consideration before making a possibly offensive comment. This incident shows that the cultural responsiveness training for Senate, which students approved in ASUO primary elections with an 81-percent margin, won’t go to waste.
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ASUO quips negate diversity efforts
Daily Emerald
May 8, 2010
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