[Tsa] exciting stuff!!!

[alc03 at hampshire.edu]

hi tsa and femme ally groups,
this just came down the line from the FUC folks...they are circulating a
petition about the importance of community resource centers on campus and the
need for effective staff members to be involved with those spaces.  they are
planning a FACULTY MEETING TAKEOVER (shhh...it's a secret.  please don't forward
this to staff/faculty or lists they are on).  super exiting stuff--sign the
petition--and read on!
love,
ary

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Hey all,

   We feel horrible bombarding your e-mail inboxes, but it's out of love and
concern for our community.

   Today (Thursday, April 26, 2007) a meeting took place in the West Lecture
Hall in FPH with Stephen Pereira (head of SDCL) and Leslie Hoffman, who
developed a questionnaire to aid her in her assessment of the Queer Community
Alliance, Women’s Center and Cultural Center. About twenty students turned
out—many of whom found out via the Feminist United Collective since there was
no publicity about this all community event apart from an intranet
announcement. Many of students expressed their frustrations and concerns
surrounding the future of these safe spaces on campus. These included among
many others: the desire for the administration to publicly voice their
commitment to the sustainability of these resources on campus by providing
adequate funding and qualified coordinators, feeling worried about what steps
will happen next semester after the “assessment” is completed and stress
relating to the general consensus that students are spread too thin to take on
the responsibility of maintaining these spaces.

   In order to translate these concerns into direct action it is our hope that
members of influential student groups on campus will form strong coalitions in
the hope that our voice will be heard by administrators. It is hectic time of
year and everyone is busy with final papers and wrapping up the semester but in
order to encourage the administration to think critically about concrete steps
that can be taken in Fall of 2007 this time is crucial. Students have voiced
doubts they have about the effectiveness of questionnaire since it is only now
getting circulated when students don’t have the time or energy to provide
thoughtful input. We have outlined a timeline for the next few days and
strongly encourage you to participate at whatever level you can.

        We have created a petition in the hope that we can generate momentum
among the
student body to invest personally in the future of these safe spaces. These
signatures are going to be presented at a faculty meeting next Tuesday along
with student representatives from the Cultural Center, TSA, QCA and FUC. There
will be about six speakers with each touching on different reasons why these
spaces need to be preserved. VERY IMPORANT NOTE: WE ARE GOING TO INTERRUPT
THEIR MEETING UNANNOUNCED SO IT IS VITAL THAT THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT GET
CIRCULATED TO STAFF/FACULTY. We will be passing out an informational sheet with
the list of our demands and are also going to include a drafted letter to
alumni/parents/local press/investors outlining the status of these spaces today
and explaining why students are so concerned. YOUR PARTICIPATION AND INPUT IS
GREATLY NEEDED AND WE WILL REWARD YOU WITH LOADS OF HUGS AND HIGH FIVES   : )





Road to gettin’ shit done:

Friday, April 27: Begin to circulate petitions
(available by either downloading and making copies or contacting us, keep them
until Monday meeting or drop them off in box 1536 and 1060)

Meet Saturday, April 28: KIVA, 1 PM
Discuss goals for faculty meeting, what to include on information sheet, draft
letter to alumni/press/parents and delegate tasks

Meet Sunday, April 29: KIVA, 2:30 PM
Check in on progress of petitions, continue with discussion from Saturday

Meet Monday, April 30: KIVA, 7 PM
Collect all petitions, prepare speakers for faculty meeting, make copies of
information sheet and letter

Tuesday, April 31: 3:30pm West Lecture Hall, FPH FACULTY MEETING

PS: Our goal is to call our groups to action, but in no way are we calling
ourselves “in charge” of this group effort. We hope that this can just be a
step to a unified front against this fucked up bureaucratic crap. Come with
ideas, concerns, and your best breakdancing skillz.

In solidarity,
Sarah Hamburger (shh06), Doran Walot (daw06),
and members of FUC, QCA, TSA, and SOURCE


P.P.S. The survey is activated online and can be accessed by going to
https://intranet.hampshire.edu/forms/viewForm.php?id=327
Despite the fact that this survey isn’t the best way to communicate our
concerns, Leslie and Steven communicated to us that it is being heavily taken
into account. So fill that shit outtttttt.