The University of Wisconsin Associated Students of Madison discussed university plans to demolish the building currently housing the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztec, a UW student organization advocating for UW’s Chicanx student population.
The plans propose demolishing the Dayton Street building in favor of a new parking structure.
If the new structure were built, it would be the second time in recent years that MEChA would be forced to relocate. UW student Omer Arain said it is important within a predominantly white institution like UW for an organization like ASM to act as advocates for a club promoting inclusion.
ASM spring election renders UW’s lowest voter turnout in recent history
“A lot of great work gets done in committees, but a lot can get done outside of them as well,” Arain said.
Additionally, as the 2017-18 school year comes to a close, ASM finished electing its new committee chairs for next year following Tuesday’s meeting.
In Thursday night’s elections, Becca Graven was elected as Grant Allocation Committee chair, Jordan Pasbrig was elected as chair of the Student Activity Center Governing Board and Katie Piel was named the new chair of the Sustainability Committee.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, the UW Campus Budget Committee delivered a call to action to the members of ASM. The committee encouraged members to further their understanding of operations within the university and the work of the budget club.
Arain and Mara Matovich, undergraduate representatives for the committee, urged ASM members to advocate for financial transparency from the university.
“[The budget committee] wants to focus on getting more transparency on where [student’s] tuition dollars go,” Matovich said.
