Student Assembly

As discussed Thursday, 29 March 2007.

Whereas, the Joint Assemblies Multicultural Committee has been unable to meet or conduct business pursuant to the charter;

Whereas, JAMIC was instituted before the creation of other bodies at the administrative level of the university to address diversity issues;

Whereas, the rhetoric surrounding JAMIC seems out of date and out of place with the current campus dialogue on diversity;

Be it therefore resolved that the bylaw regarding JAMIC be struck as such:

Bylaw 7.8.a.1 The Joint Assemblies Multicultural Issues Committee (JAMIC) shall be composed of the SA and University Assembly (UA) with 14 voting members,consisting of five undergraduates (four of whom shall be the two SA Minority Liaisons, the SA International Student Liaison, and the SA Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning Liaison); three graduate or professional students, four employees, and two members of the faculty. The Vice Provost for Diversity & Faculty Development shall serve as an ex-officio member of JAMIC. All members shall be appointed as appropriate by the SA and UA for one-year terms beginning May 1 and may be reappointed. A quorum shall consist of one-half of the seated members. Co-chairs shall be one of the four SA liaisons and the UA liaison to JAMIC.

The mission of JAMIC is to promote the awareness of multicultural issues at Cornell, encourage cultural interaction and dialogue within the Cornell community, make recommendations to the central administration on issues of concern to the Cornell community, and monitor the University’s implementation of those recommendations. JAMIC shall aim to be a collective voice of the diversity of cultures, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, lifestyles, races, religions, and sexual orientations represented at Cornell.

JAMIC shall have the authority to create subcommittees for multicultural issues of concern to the Cornell community, and will serve as an advisory board for these subcommittees.

Each subcommittee will be chaired by a member of JAMIC or at least have a member of JAMIC serve on the subcommittee. All interested members of the Cornell community may serve as members of a subcommittee. The SA and UA encourage subcommittees to seek nominations from the Minority Faculty/Staff Forum, Office of Minority Educational Affairs (OMEA), International Student Programming Board, Minority Greek Letter Council, and Program House governments. Subcommittees shall consult with JAMIC and are responsible for reporting their activities to JAMIC.

It is recommended that JAMIC meet monthly throughout the academic year (September-May). JAMIC will provide the SA and UA with written minutes from theirmeetings, and as well as a summary report of all subcommittee activities at before the end of each academic year.

Be it further resolved that the responsibilities of the four designated at-large seats be changed per the creation of Bylaw 6.1.d., which will read:

Bylaw 6.1.d. The International, Minority, and LGBTQ representatives shall serve as liaisons to at least one organization that is recognized to be representative of their respective constituencies. They will attend at least three of the general body meetings of the organization they choose per semester and report back to the assembly with all pertinent information once a semester. A member may opt to serve on the University Diversity Council if he or she feels that it best represents his or her given constituency.

This bylaw follows after Bylaw 6.1.c., which was added by Resolution 11 by the Student Assembly in the Fall of 2006.

Respectfully submitted,

Ahmed Salem ‘08 International Representative