Christian Nunez, the class of 2018 Student Union senator, is aiming to uplift marginalized voices, make campus safer and work with clubs during his term this year. He stressed the importance of including groups which are often not directly involved on campus in voting, such as members of Greek organizations.
Senators are required to be on two committees. Nunez is on the Social Justice and Diversity Committee and the Outreach Committee.
“I believe that we should strongly work together with those clubs that are trying to uplift minority voices,” Nunez said in reference to his decision to join the Social Justice and Diversity Committee. In listening to and partnering with students of minority groups, Nunez believes he is helping “to make all voices stronger.”
Nunez equated his involvement in the Outreach Committee to his goal of being able “to work more hand in hand with clubs and club leaders.” He hopes that he can help get things “running more efficiently.” Nunez also stressed the importance of getting clubs and club leaders involved with bystander training and other important training processes. Last week, the Student Union announced that all club leaders must participate annually in bystander intervention training with the Office of Prevention Services.
Keeping an open discourse between the administration and students about the progress made after student groups such as Ford Hall 2015 released lists of demands from the university, is particularly important according to Nunez. “As longs as [students] know that [administration] is doing something, or even just looking at it, people feel more calm and more patient and can work more efficiently,” Nunez said.
He said that whenever an issue is being discussed, it is important for both students and administration to notice they have the goal of making Brandeis a better university.
Certain groups of students vote in Student Union elections less often than other groups according to Nunez. In particular he spoke of Greek life, explaining that he thinks those involved in fraternities and sororities don’t always vote because Greek life isn’t recognized by Brandeis and therefore they feel that the Student Union doesn’t affect them. He also asserted that others don’t vote because they “didn’t really know how the Student Union functioned or what exactly it did.”
Nunez suggested reaching out to groups such as fraternities and sororities to let them know that they can come to the Student Union offices with concerns. He also suggested working directly with with clubs to inform people to vote.
Candidates running for the student union are held to a “paperless campaign” which means they cannot post fliers to support their campaign. The goal of the “paperless campaign” is to reduce waste and to create an even playing field for candidates since printing costs money. Nunez said the paperless campaign “shocked” him at first but forced him to focus on policy rather than publicity. Since the “paperless campaign” restricted him to mostly just using social media for outreach, Nunez said it forced him to think, “What can I write that people need, I can actually do, and I am somewhat informed in?” He felt that the “paperless campaign” provided a fair playing field for all candidates.
