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community
SGA president speaks at pro-Israel conference Student groups opposed Allen’s Sunday speech before AIPAC Multiple University @victoria_ebner of Maryland a c t iv i s t o rStaff writer ganizations have voiced their disapproval of SGA president Jonathan Allen’s speech at a pro-Israel conference. Allen gave a speech on proIsrael advocacy on college campuses at the American by
Victoria Ebner
Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. After news of this surfaced on social media last week, six student groups signed a letter expressing concern that his appearance at the conference would give the impression that he speaks for the entire student body, including those who sympathize with Palestinians.
The letter was sent Thursday to university President Wallace Loh, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Student Government Association’s Diversity and Inclusion committee. “The SGA President has every right to attend such a conference within his individual capacity or as a representative of other campus organizations he is affiliated with,” the letter reads. “However, it is unethical of Allen to attend the AIPAC conference representing the entire University
After controversy surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) criticisms of Israel and its relationship with the U.S., at least seven Democratic presidential candidates have said they won’t be attending. In response, President Trump has accused the Democratic Party of being “anti-Jewish.” Currently, 47 members of Congress — 25 Democrats and 22 Republicans — are slated to speak at the conference, according to its website. Students for Justice in Pal-
estine, one of the groups that signed the letter, has said that AIPAC’s views on Israel are not representative of the student body. “AIPAC is an organization that has a history of Islamophobia and anti-Arab rhetoric,” said Shivam Shukla, a member of SJP. “[Allen] going as the SGA president is basically giving the idea that the whole student body — or at least the majority of the student body See aipac, p. 3
title ix
administration
Undocumented coordinator position extended
of Maryland undergraduate student body, especially when students were never informed nor asked about this matter.” The annual conference, currently being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, is regarded as the “largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community,” according to AIPAC’s website. While the conference has long hosted politicians and speakers from across the political spectrum, it’s been more polarizing this year.
Fewer sexual misconduct investigations last year, despite spike in reports Reports have increased about 122 percent since Title IX office’s founding By Leah Brennan | @allhaeleah | Senior staff writer
T
Student activists want to make the role permanent The University of Maryland has extended its undocumented student coordinator position to June of next year — but advocates are still pushing for the role to become permanent. The role is intended to provide assistance — such as financial guidance, emotional support and advice on their status — to the undocumented student population. Following President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, a coalition of student activist groups known as ProtectUMD issued 64 demands, including the creation of an undocumented student coordinator position. Laura Bohorquez Garcia has held the position since fall 2017. Her contract was initially set to expire this year — something student activists had expressed concern about — but administrators decided last semester to extend the job until June 2020. When the post was created in spring 2017, this university saw an unpredictable national context that “was driving a lot of the distress” from students, said student affairs assistant vice president Warren Kelley. As a candidate, Trump took a hardline stance on illegal immigration. In August 2015, he said he would rescind DACA — the Obamaera policy that provided work permits to some undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children — if elected president, telling NBC News that “they have to go.” “We didn’t know where that was going to go or how it would resolve or change. And so part of this was just, let’s continue with this temporary position as long as we see a need and the situation stays volatile and unpredictable,” Kelley said. “Well, fast forward two years … it was still as volatile as ever.” Since Trump’s election, he’s announced he would rescind DACA, a decision that’s been held by the courts pending further legal review. The White House has also canceled Temporary Protected Status — a shortterm designation for immigrants affected by armed conflict or natural disasters — for some groups, including Salvadorans and Haitians. The contract extension is aimed to give the campus community “breathing room” for the coordinator to continue her work, carry on with meetings of the undocumented student working group and further examine campus needs, Kelley said. But, as Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society president Blanca Arriola Palma noted, the challenges facing
he University of Maryland fielded a record amount of reports and complaints of student sexual misconduct last year — but it also conducted fewer investigations than ever before. In the 2017-18 academic year, the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct received 249 reports of potential misconduct, 91 of which became formal complaints. That was a spike from 208 reports and 80 complaints the year before. But the number of investigations dropped from 27 in 2016-17, an all-time high for the office, to 16 last academic year, an all-time low, according to the fourth annual Sexual Misconduct Report. Reports have increased by about 122 percent from when the office was first established in 2014, while complaints have risen nearly 90 percent. The number of investigations last year, though, was lower than each of OCRSM’s first three years. Andrea Goodwin, who acted as the office’s interim codirector since its previous director stepped down in August, said it was “really good” to see a high volume of reports, since it indicates awareness of the reporting process. Goodwin did not attribute the lower number of investigations to any particular cause, saying the pathway to an investigation is “really case-dependent.” “Sometimes, complainants don’t want to move forward with an investigation, but we do get reports from all over the campus community,” she said. While “reports” indicate potential complaints of sexual misconduct, “complaints” reflect students who are engaging with the university to address it, Goodwin said. A “significant number” of reports are secondhand, said Steve Petkas, the office’s other co-director, and are often made through the responsible university employee program, which requires campus employees to inform the Title IX director of any potential sexual misconduct brought to their attention. “They don’t come straight from an alleged victim who might later become a complainant,” Petkas said.
by
Leah Brennan @allhaeleah Senior staff writer
See coordinator, p. 3
calendar 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 city 6 diversions 8 SPORTS 12
graphics by maris medina
See misconduct, p. 3
MEN’S BASKETBALL
dagger in duval By James Crabtree-Hannigan @JamesCrabtreeH | Senior staff writer Terps suffer heartbreaking loss against Louisiana State, Sports, p 12
courtesy of mitchell scaglione/the daily reveille
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