Casas del Rio area manager Brent McPherson asked the ASUNM Senate to embrace the partnership between UNM and American Campus Communities as the new on-campus dorms near the final stages on construction.
During the Senate meeting Wednesday, McPherson told the ASUNM Senate he understands there will be hesitations about the introduction of a private company to UNM’s main campus housing operations, but said he hopes they will also accept UNM’s partnership with ACC.
“I just want you to embrace and acknowledge what the University of New Mexico has decided to go to and take it for what it’s worth,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is going to help your degree. This is going to help your value by investing in this change.”
Casas del Rio, the 1,028 bed on-campus project, is under construction at an estimated cost of $39.4 million, paid for by ACC, and will open to students Aug. 17. McPherson said the facility is already 50 percent booked and construction is on schedule to finish for the fall. McPherson said the new dorms will offer Casas del Rio residents and nonresident students a computer lab and study spaces.
Senators also debated a resolution calling for the administration to take action in response to the physical violence that occurred at pro-Israel activist Nonie Darwish’s lecture on Feb. 27.
Resolution 5S, introduced by Sens. Ife Hampton and Caroline Muraida, requests a public statement from the University administration affirming that members of the audience who physically assaulted protesters during the meeting will be prosecuted according to the UNM Student Code of Conduct. The resolution was almost unanimously voted down 16-0-1. Muraida and Hampton were absent from the meeting.
Section 2.18 of the Student Code of Conduct prohibits “Any other acts or omissions which affect adversely University functions or University-sponsored activities, disrupt community living on campus, interfere with the rights of others to the pursuit of their education, or otherwise affect adversely the processes of the University.”
ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal clarified that the people who were shoving the protesters are the violators referred to in the resolution, not the protesters.
While the administration is not investigating any members of the audience who assaulted protesters, (un)Occupy Albuquerque protester Brittany Arneson could face a disorderly conduct charge for “mic checking” Darwish, Arneson told the Daily Lobo earlier this month.
Rob Burford, student conduct officer from the office of the Dean of Students, was unavailable for comment about Arneson’s investigation.
But the Senate voted down the resolution because they said it needed to address more than the disciplinary action on the people who assaulted the protesters.
Sen. Joe Stevens told the Senate that the resolution should focus more on the right of free speech.
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“The main point should be reaffirming that people can have free speech on campus,” he said. “I would rather have a clause saying for the UNM administration to reaffirm the qualities and continued stances on quoting free speech.”
The resolution will go back to the Steering and Rules Committee for amendment and Roybal said the resolution could appear before the Senate again in two weeks.
The Senate also commemorated the life of student Garrett Elders, who died this week, with a moment of silence. Sen. Stevens recited lines from a poem called “Death is Nothing at All” by Henry Scott Holland.
“Why should I be out of mind, because I am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval. Somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.”
Roybal told the senators to keep the bonds they build with their classmates in student government and at UNM a priority over their responsibilities as senators and students.
“We come to these meetings and the work you do is incredibly important but at the end of the day, the relationships you make through this organization and through your time at this University are more important,” she said.
