The Vermont Cynic APRIL 3, 2018
VOL. 134 – ISSUE 26
VTCYNIC.COM
SGA elect stresses transparency Carly Fredrickson Staff Writer Lee Hughes Staff Writer Sophomore Ethan Foley and junior Gillian Natanagara were elected SGA president and vice president. Natanagara and Foley ran against sophomores Jamie Benson and Reginah Mako in the March 26-27 election. Natanagara and Foley’s platform includes plans to address the affordable housing crisis in Burlington, bring more resources to Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychiatry Services and introduce restorative practices to the University. Restorative practices are a way to acknowledge social power dynamics and mend social rifts, Natanagara said. Sophomore Maggie Hirschberg said she voted for Foley and Natanagara because of how their platform focused on sustainability. The two plan to meet with students, campus leaders and senators before their term, Natanagara said. Natanagara said they are looking into creating a blog to update students about SGA developments. She and Foley both stressed the importance of transparency and communication with the student body. “I have the utmost respect for every student of this campus and I want to make sure every group feels represented and feels included in the deci-
SAM LITRA/The Vermont Cynic Sophomore Ethan Foley and his running mate, junior Gillian Natanagara, were elected SGA president and vice president March 27. sions we make,” Foley said. Foley is a political science major from Grove City, Pennsylvania. He served on the SGA Committee on Legislative and Community Affairs this year. Natanagara is an environmental studies major from Wanamassa, New Jersey, and served two years on the Committee on the Environment. “I love, and I have worked closely with ... Jamie Benson and Reginah Mako,”she said. Benson and Mako have been on SGA for two years and have both served this year as chairs of their respective committees: Academic Affairs and the Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. Their platform goals were to improve communication
between campus groups, promote student mental and physical health and address equity issues. Junior Alex Howe said he voted for Benson and Mako because they support social justice organizations. The president and vice president work with the SGA body to represent students. “Traditionally, folks look to the president of the SGA as the voice of representing all students,” student life director Pat Brown said. The vice president oversees SGA operations and assists with presidential responsibilities, he said. Foley said the election was a hard race, and he can’t wait to begin his term as president.
Activists demand removal of downtown art Lily Young Staff Writer A Church Street mural may be taken down after community backlash. Artist Pierre Hardy’s “Everyone Loves a Parade” is meant to represent Vermont history, but people of color and other marginalized groups are not depicted in the mural, Burlington City Councilor Ali Dieng said. While Hardy is not opposed to the modification of the mural, he feels the complete removal of it would be a “sad outcome,” according to a Feb. 2 VTDigger article. The mural is meant to be used as a historical learning opportunity, Dieng said. The piece was vandalized Oct. 9 by Albert Petrarca, a member of the Off the Wall coalition, a group that objects to the mural as a symbol of white supremacy. Petrarca spray-painted the words “Off the wall” across the mural to protest the lack of representation, according to
SAM LITRA/The Vermont Cynic The mural on Church Street titled “Everybody Loves a Parade” by Pierre Hardy may be taken down due to community backlash over the mural’s lack of diversity. an Oct. 9 Seven Days article. Because of protests over the mural’s content, Dieng created a resolution called “Removal of the ‘Everyone Loves a Parade’ Mural” that tasks City Attorney Eileen Blackwood with determining the legal processes to
remove the mural, he said. Community members are protesting because the mural does not represent people of color, the refugee community, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with physical and intellectual disabilities and the
Abenaki tribe, Dieng said. Dieng said the community made a mistake by allowing a non-inclusive mural to be displayed in the heart of downtown. The city council and Mayor Miro Weinberger will appoint
a committee of nine members that represent the diversity of Burlington to determine how a new mural should be designed, created and funded, Dieng said. “[The mural] is not a case of racism, it is a case of misrepresentation and lack of inclusivism because the mural focuses on white American history, which is the problem,” said junior Starr Cobb, a social activist at UVM. Cobb said Hardy should let the city take it down and paint a new mural that includes the narrative of the black community in Vermont. Weinberger is supportive of this new resolution, said Katie Vane, communications director for the mayor. He looks forward to Blackwood reporting back to the council, Vane said. “I think the city council will have a difficult time finding a solution everyone is happy with, considering the rights of the artist and free expression,” SGA President senior Chris Petrillo said.