In the coming weeks, SGA senators will likely vote on several more resolutions that concern the push to arm Suffolk University Police Officers (SUPD).
Logan Casey, senator for the New England School of Art and Design (NESAD), plans to bring a resolution to senators that could repeal last year’s 23-11 vote by SGA to support the arming of SUPD.
Casey outlined what the resolution could entail in a document he shared with SGA senators last week. On top of repealing last year’s vote, Casey called for the discussion surrounding the issue to be reopened and for SGA’s subcommittees to further research the impact of arming campus police officers.
He wrote in the document that “this repeal of last year’s resolution should not be viewed as reactionary against a set of ideologies and beliefs, but rather a reaction to the lack of evidence placed into [last year’s] resolutions and the lack of consent given to the student body.”
“I wasn’t in SGA last year, so I don’t have all of the information [about the issue of arming],” said Casey at SGA’s Oct. 3 meeting. “That’s why I’m asking right now for senators to help me with this.”
In response to Casey, Kostas Loukos, Class of 2021 senator and author of last year’s resolution, said he will bring two resolutions to the Senate floor concerning the issue of arming.
The first resolution would require SGA to post all resolutions on social media before they are voted on so students can read them and share their opinions on them. The second would reaffirm last year’s SGA vote to arm SUPD.
“The longer we wait to make a decision on arming SUPD, the greater chance of a Suffolk University student being harmed,” said Loukos at the meeting. “I don’t think that anyone wants that.”
Senator at Large Fehr Almehdar called for senators to reach out to other students and listen to what they think about arming SUPD.
“If there’s a [new arming] resolution, vote with them in mind,” said Almehdar at the meeting.
Senators also discussed potential sustainability resolutions at the Oct. 3 meeting. Casey said he plans to help SGA ban single use plastics in Sodexo’s facilities on campus by fall 2020.
