Associated Students University of Idaho Senate introduced a bill Wednesday that would allocate funding for a project called “Say Their Name,” co-run by the Black Student Union.
The bill allocates over $416 for the purchase of yard signs that would be placed on the Administration Building Lawn.
The signs will display support for the Black Lives Matter movement and those who’ve lost their lives to police brutality by placing their names on the sign.
Written by Senator Cecilia Lopez, Director of Diversity Yasmine Tovar and Director of Community Involvement Connor Dahlquist, the ASUI Executive Board approved the bill for funding prior to the senate meeting.
A tense discussion followed the introduction of the bill, with distinct support and opposition.
“As campus leaders, we need to recognize the broken systems and institutions that we are a part of and do what we can to make changes,” Sen. Wil Jansen van Beek, the bill’s sponsor, said.
Sen. Hunter Gust, among others, offered rebuttals to the bill, saying he can’t support Black Lives Matter and the project for various reasons.
“I am against hate, especially racial injustice,” Gust said. “I don’t think that ASUI’s support is very intuitive to what the students would agree with.”
The bill will be voted on during their next meeting.
ASUI Senate also passed a resolution declaring November as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month at UI.
The resolution, written by Sen. Frazier and Sen. Loffer, hopes to address “issues within our community regarding men’s mental health such as coping mechanisms, depression, anxiety, lack of motivation and sexual orientation.”
ASUI Senate will meet again on April 21.
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected]