Dear Editor:
As you may be well aware, the ASUW has currently passed a resolution to make aware of its support of “Transgender, Nonbinary, & Otherwise Gender Non-Conforming Students.” This resolution outlines ASUW’s continued support for this minority of students on campus. As much as this is not on the radar of the typical student at UW, the ASUW wants to make it clear. Those on both sides of the issue may have discourse on this ideal, the resolution itself is full of flaws and put ASUW in some hot water.
The resolution outlines ASUW’s clear policy in protecting UW student’s rights in having a voice on campus. In an otherwise redundant way, ASUW cites Article 5, Section 5.01 in which it already lays out ASUW’s support every student on campus. I’m not sure if the authors of the piece understood this measure existed or not, but this adding insult to create injury. Students on campus are already aware of ASUW’s goal in providing support to students on campus. Did the author’s of this legislation even bother to look at ASUW’s by-laws, or was it something they added like a college student adds a source they skimmed over like a midterm paper. Although I agree that every student has a right to their opinion on campus, continuing to repeat the same thing over and over again shows how ineffective ASUW really is.
It goes on to add several addendums which describe several statistics by several outlets in talking about the suicide rate of the students of this group. One original addendum that was removed by the ASUW was one that threw up a red flag. Addendum C. This was a highly polarized article from the New York Times in which it talked about how President Obama defined Title IX coverage to all genders, strikes me as something that should have not been in the original legislation. A highly polarized section if you will. Something that clearly shows what side of the aisle ASUW clearly favors.
I can understand ASUW’s goal to be as supportive as possible to every student on campus. However, all this resolution does, is make it overkill. ASUW has clearly shown that it is not focused on actually making changes to campus, like having more events and opportunities on campus. Instead, they want to make highly polarized blanketed statements for the student body. I praise the senators who opposed this legislation, not because of the topic of this legislation, but because this legislation is pointless and redundant. However, because of this legislation, this just shows how ASUW is ineffective in making meaningful legislation. I hope there will be significant change amongst the senators.
Jaxson Heyrend
Junior
Agricultural Communications Major
