Last Friday’s student government meeting included a lively open forum regarding the recent presidential communications on safety training and the need for the college to take a clear stance against ICE actions amid recent protests, detainments, and deaths.  Other discussion points of the meeting included a “clerical error” misallocating funds for Emerson comedy troupe Jimmy’s Travelling All Stars and information on upcoming SGA Elections. 

Most of the deliberation concerned the recent presidential communications requiring all students to complete an Active Safety Training module on Canvas following the shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor.

Multiple students said the communication appeared to lack seriousness, with several different students describing it as “impersonal,” “cowardly,” and “deeply unsettling.” 

Students also said they were concerned about the email’s subject line, “Active Threat Safety Training,” which some said appeared alarming upon first glance. They also discussed how the point of references in the email, including the Emerson Concern Center and the Extraordinary Emerson 2030 Strategic Plan, include no mention of safety. 

First Generation and Low Income Senator Jazzy Compton and Journalism Senator Jules Telfort both said that the email, coupled with a direct address from President Jay Bernhardt or another member of the administration, might have been more effective. LGBTQIA+ Senator Charlie Cocozza said requiring the Canvas module felt like “shoveling responsibility onto students.”

“Expecting students to watch a video without the president or anyone in power trying to do something to make a change … is very frustrating,”said Max Brady-Lewis, junior public relations major and communication studies senator. 

Compton echoed that sentiment.

“I’d like to see a more tangible interaction,” she said. “We feel so disconnected with this president.”

Brady-Lewis added that the possible threat of a school shooting is not the only threat to the community’s safety, pointing to a surge of ICE deportation efforts across the country.

“What’s happening in Minnesota is eventually … bound to happen in Boston,” he said.

“I felt like it was so bland and so vanilla … there was no compassion in [the email],” Class of 2027 co-president and political communication major Levi Armstrong said. “It felt so tasteless…if there’s anything Emerson should be preparing for, it’s that ICE is coming to Boston.”

In early January, ICE presence ramped up in Minneapolis, with two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — losing their lives at the hands of federal law enforcement, and hundreds have been arrested. Students at the meeting said that as fear of ICE reaches a fever pitch nationwide, student leaders have a distinct responsibility to show their solidarity with immigrant students, international students, and any students otherwise disconcerted by recent national news.

“I have started carrying my passport around, just because I am very scared about what’s happening,” Brady-Lewis said, adding that the campus would benefit from having an honest conversation with the president. “Without the screaming, without the back and forth, without the rebuttals.”

Angus Abercrombie, executive vice president of SGA, said the Emerson administration is “walking a difficult line” between supporting students and making sure they’re not inviting federal enforcement activity on this campus.

Brady-Lewis acknowledged the difficult balance the college must strike, but said their actions have not always been consistent with that sentiment. 

“They can’t be policing the actions of their students,” Brady-Lewis said. “They can’t have their cake and eat it too.” 

The meeting also included an unplanned appropriation of $8,900 to Jimmy’s Travelling All-Stars following a “clerical error” in the Treasury Department. The error resulted in them mistakenly being told their budget was $14,900, rather than the $6,000 initially approved by SGA. To rectify this, SGA appropriated the remaining money to them, as they had planned to utilize nearly $15k for their upcoming Los Angeles trip. 

“This clerical error was discovered in the last three hours,” Abercrombie said in the meeting, before the resolution was passed unanimously. “We are not necessarily in a position where we want to delay this.”

In a statement to The Beacon, the SGA apologized for the error, and noted that additional verification measures will be put in place to prevent similar errors in the future. 

The body also appropriated $3,800 from the undesignated student fund balance to Cocozza’s student senator fund project, Lavender Underground. The event is meant to replicate the vibe of an underground queer club on Feb. 19, in the Lion’s Den Loft from 9-11 p.m. Cocozza called the event “an homage to secret queer spaces that existed before being openly queer was socially accepted.”

The event will be ticketed, as the Loft’s capacity is 150. Cocozza also spoke to the importance of laying the foundation for a recurring queer event at Emerson, which does not currently exist.

“Which is crazy, because we have such a robust LGBTQ+ population,” Cocozza said.

After the meeting concluded, Abercrombie and Georgia Winn, SGA’s executive president, spoke to The Beacon about forthcoming conversations with leaders in administration about the concerns brought up in the General Assembly.

“As part of that, we hope to direct students to resources that they need,” Winn said. 

When asked who specifically the student government engages with the most, Winn said she meets regularly with Provost Alexandra Socarides, and Abercrombie said he meets bi-weekly with Christie Anglade, vice president for student affairs.

“I make an effort to be as transparent as possible about what students are saying,” Winn said.