Sixteen members of the Oswego State community spoke their beliefs and opinions on Feb. 19 at the public comment portion of the first Student Association meeting of the spring semester. 

The topic of the debate is rooted from the proposed resolution, “Amandla, Awethu!: Power to the People.” This resolution proposes to add five new flags to the collection that has been hung in the Marano Campus Center since 2007 but has been removed for cleaning and review.

The proposed flags include the Philadelphia pride flag, transgender pride flag, Black Lives Matter flag, Pan-African flag, Palestinian flag and the Iroquois Native American Tribal flag.

While a majority of the people speaking at public comment agreed with the resolution, some spoke on the reasons of why they oppose it, specifically the Palestinian flag. Some Jewish students, such as Jewish Life Treasurer Nathaniel Goldstein, spoke on why flying this flag would make him feel uncomfortable.

“I fully support Pan-Arabian heritage and welcome those students with open arms,” Goldstein said. “However, I do not believe the proposed flag is the best one to represent Pan-Arabian people nor it should be hung in Marano Campus Center.”

Also representing those opposing the resolution was a former senator-at-large, Connor Douglass, who spoke for students who do not want the resolution to pass but did not feel comfortable standing in front of a room of people who for the most part are in strong support of it. Douglass said the Black Lives Matter flag has political values and could cause controversy.

Douglass said the Black Lives Matter flag has political values and could cause controversy.

According to the resolution, “by supporting and advocating for these flags to be flown, we do not endorse any political agenda or platform of any off-campus organization or the hateful rhetoric that have been formulated upon these flags to oppose their message of love and solidarity.”

He suggested making an amendment to add the flag for the Blue Lives Matter movement in addition to the proposed Black Lives Matter flag, which was met with opposition from much of the room. Douglas urged senators to keep all of their constituents in mind when they vote on the resolution. 

“Not all of these beliefs are personally mine,” Douglas said. “I’m speaking on behalf of people who aren’t able to be represented, and we should think about all the students when making judgements.”

According to the resolution, “the Palestinian flag … represents Pan-Arabian heritage and is a symbol of hope for a people’s group whom in a modern society face second-class citizenship status and are subject to brutal Apartheid oppression based on religious affiliation.”

Tylissa Ortiz, proudly wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt, spoke about how hanging the proposed flags would make the statement that the student body does not tolerate hate. Ortiz said while she supports hanging the Palestinian flag, she would urge senators to fully research to make sure they are proposing the correct flag for the body of people they want to represent.

“Black Lives Matter, it is not a debatable topic for me,” Ortiz said. “I believe that in this country, black people are regularly oppressed. They are regularly mistreated, and this organization focuses on bringing that to light, on aiding black citizens in this country and making their lives better and as equal as possible.”

Ortiz said upon reading that the resolution proposed to add the Black Lives Matter flag, she felt happy because she attends a “diverse and forward-thinking school.”

Devon Ruckdeschel, social media coordinator of Pride Alliance, spoke about not possessing the fear of walking into a bathroom and not coming back out and how many people do face that fear and have to think about their safety all the time, everywhere they go. 

“I think that the hanging of these flags is a step in the right direction to making this campus safe for other people, welcome to other people,” Ruckdeschel said. “They are signs of hope, of pride, of acknowledgement, [of] representation. I have seen the way the smallest representation can do for a person, and it’s a huge thing that we see you, we acknowledge you, and we know that you are here.”    

Written by SA President Omar van Reenen, SA Director of Diversity and Inclusion Marquel Jeffries and Black Student Union Executive Director Tenaja Smith-Butler, the resolution was sponsored by more than 150 students, faculty and staff. 

SA meetings must end by 9 p.m., and the senate made the decision to table the resolution until next Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they will meet again to further discuss it and vote on any proposed amendments and the resolution as a whole.

Kassadee Paulo | The Oswegonian