The Associated Students of Madison will launch four new positions this Fall in hopes to better understand the needs of marginalized groups on campus.
Liaisons for women, people of color, LGBT individuals and people with disabilities will serve to connect the student governance group with those communities that may not always have a voice in university conversations, according to ASM Vice Chair Mariam Coker.
The positions actually existed 10 years ago, but were only recently brought back into the budget to combat incidents of racial and religious intolerance and other forms of discrimination that plagued the campus in the last year.
“Our campus is so big and so homogenous, it’s super easy to generalize,” Coker said. “It’s very important that we have these positions in place so we understand the need of these communities, rather than just assuming what they need.”
The liaisons will be hired at the end of August and will report directly to Equity and Inclusion Committee Chair Ali Khan, Coker explained. They will receive a $1,000 stipend per semester and attend Student Council meetings to report on issues they see in their respective communities.
Coker said ideal candidates would already be activists in the population they wish to represent and would reach out to as many different student groups as possible to truly get a feel for what is happening on campus.
“We want them to be the most knowledgeable person about the current state of the community in the room,” Coker said.
Each liaison would attend registered student organization meetings pertaining to their position in addition to Student Council meetings. Coker suggested groups like Best Buddies for the liaison for people with disabilities, and Sex Out Loud, the Campus Women’s Center, End Violence On Campus and Black Women Heal for the women’s issues liaison. Coker said although some of the position duties are still ambiguous, the liaisons will ensure ASM has a better handle on students’ needs across campus.
“This is a needed thing, especially given the current climate on our campus,” Coker said. “It’s important that entities on campus are very intentional about learning about different communities, instead of assuming. Intersectionality is the key.”
