Safety

There are many known issues with microaggressions on the Paul G. Allen campus, but we recently had a Black student here on campus have the police called to remove them from the building. Pursuant to known data, interactions with police officers place minority individuals at greater risk of physical harm. This increases further due to intersectionality issues such as disabilities that students on campus must navigate. Phone calls like these put the student population in direct physical threat. While the Faculty at Paul G. Allen School is unable to prevent such calls, creating a space where BIPOC students can work that is defined as a safe space can reduce risk of intended violence against these marginalized groups.

IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES

  • Student Safety
  • Food Accessibility

Accessibility

We would create a student funded food pantry to provide for students unable to afford food on campus. We would also like to have room for a small number of computers and study tables. This provides computers regardless of income, and a peer group for marginalized students. Often, we learn best by working through content with our peers, this is something that can be difficult or impossible for oppressed students to access: if they are rejected by their peers, they cannot receive valuable peer-based learning.

ADDED PRIORITIES

  • Student Club Resources
  • Peer-group Involvement
  • Intersectional Design
  • Paid Leadership + Facilitators

Club Involvement

To create a space that is multicultural we want to propose this space may be used by all the student lead multicultural clubs on campus that were introduced in the DEIA Plan: MiT, GEN1, Q++, and Ability. We will coordinate with club leaders to design an inclusive space and provide student accessibility that fosters intersectionality and easily accessed resources. Future student clubs will be able to continue any initiatives such a space may choose to implement as it grows.

STUDENT LED

  • Club Presidents build and continue the vision
  • Future opportunities for peer-based tutoring
  • Volunteers provide access and meet student needs