WHEREAS, Graduate Center (GC) students have recently organized and are continuing to develop events related to sexual misconduct, inappropriate interactions between faculty and students, among students, and between members of the GC community as well as gender discrimination at the GC, such as the ‘Tendedero’ (‘Clothes line’) in the Dining Commons and the performance of the internationally-recognized A Rapist in Your Path.
WHEREAS, these activities reflect a growing concern amongst the student body and other members of the GC community about sexual misconduct, inappropriate interactions (especially between faculty and students), and gender discrimination at the GC.
WHEREAS, there are multiple concerns expressed (for example, in the ‘Tendedero’ display in the GC Dining Commons) about student, staff, and faculty experiences at the GC that require communication between students and the other members of the GC community and the GC Title IX Officials, some reports indicating that communication and solutions provided by the office are unclear or unhelpful.
WHEREAS, affirmative policies for gender minorities such as gender neutral bathrooms in all floors, or using of preferred pronouns as required under Title IX, are underdeveloped.
WHEREAS, GC administration dismantled the ‘Tendedero’ installation in the Dining Commons, reflecting a lack of care and concern for the health, safety, and wellbeing of GC students and other members of the GC community as well as a lack of care or understanding for students and community members who are looking for ways to express solidarity and care for one other, particularly when these expressions develop through the creative practices of minority communities from the Global South.
WHEREAS, students have expressed to DGSC representatives feelings of discomfort to attend the GC due to the presence of sexual misconduct, the lack of action by the administration to address sexual misconduct as a collective issue, and a lack of diversity in gender amongst GC faculty.
WHEREAS, the DGSC recognizes the support by administration needed for students to learn and earn their degrees, and for faculty and staff to work, in a healthy environment that is free of sexual misconduct, inappropriate interactions (specially between faculty and students), and gender discrimination.
THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED, that the DGSC demands that CUNY and GC administrators address these growing concerns about sexual misconduct, inappropriate interactions between any members of the GC community, lack of diversity in gender amongst GC faculty, and gender discrimination at the GC.
