Student Government Board passed a resolution regarding freedom of speech on campus at its weekly meeting Tuesday night at Nordy’s Place.
President Marley Pinsky said the resolution calls on the University to reaffirm students’ First Amendment rights on campus.
“This is something that is really important to not just create a culture of free speech and affirm our commitment to welcoming different perspectives, but also to ensure that students know their rights and know what they can be punished for,” Pinsky said.
The resolution references surveys by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which this year gave Pitt a failing grade in protecting and promoting free speech. According to the report, Pitt students expressed concerns about a poor speech climate and discrimination on campus. The resolution urges Pitt to mitigate these issues by clearly communicating free speech policies and resisting external pressure to restrict free expression.
“We are just asking for all of [the information] to be in one place. There are examples of those from other universities that I have sent to administration. That’s been our ask since November, and it hasn’t happened yet,” Pinsky said.
Board member Shanthi Bhaskar said SGB’s goal is to bring the resolution “to the attention of the University administration” and highlighted its importance for students.
“It is definitely something that needs to be addressed and has been brought up by many student organizations and students on campus,” Bhaskar said.
Pinsky emphasized the importance of next year’s board continuing work on the free speech initiative.
“Now it falls on the incoming board to be following up on every line of this resolution,” Pinsky said. “I know that there is a lot of solid advocacy experience going into the next SGB board, and I am really excited to see how they move forward with that.”
Board member Andrew Elliott introduced a bill regarding revisions to the SGB governing code. Elliott first discussed these revisions at the March 25 meeting.
“This bill edits our executive board title, as well as our assembly title. It includes changes to how we function, as well as certain powers and responsibilities that the board has versus different processes previously performed by different roles,” Elliott said.
Elliott explained that while the bill will make changes to the governing code, it will remain in line with SGB’s priorities.
“We have also edited rules that have become problematic or hinder our operations in order to allow us to continue to serve students as effectively as possible,” Elliott said. “The changes are in line with our operations and with how we hope to see the organization continuing to work going forward.”
Elliott said the revisions will be accessible through the SGB website.
Allocations:
Men’s Club Soccer requested $3,434.41 for a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $2,106.00.
Men’s Lacrosse Club requested $5,852.11 for a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $199.39.