On Wednesday night, ASG passed a statement denouncing Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner's decision to halt the reception of refugees into Illinois. Through the statement, ASG "will urge all members of the Northwestern community to contact local, state, and federal representatives to voice their support for accepting refuges," the authors of the statement wrote.
Following the terror attacks in Paris this past week, 27 U.S. governors spoke out against accepting Syrian refugees into their states.
“There’s new rhetoric going around and it’s hitting close to home now,” said Yusuf Ahmad Kudaimi, a Weinberg sophomore. “Our own governor is speaking out against accepting refugees. Personally, I feel that there is very little that I can do other than educate those around me.”
Kudaimi proposed the authored statement to the Senate, requesting that a concrete message via email be sent out to the Northwestern student body addressing the urge to allow refugees to seek asylum in the state of Illinois.
He added, “The fact that we have all of a sudden this complete change of rhetoric, based off the actions of these people who are not refugees, is awful to see. We feel that this statement is the least that we can do.”
ASG President Noah Star emphasized the importance of sending this message to the student body, and the responsibility towards its students that ASG has as a representative body.
"Even though it’s a political issue, I would not say that it’s not a vitally personal issue for students on campus,” said Erik Baker, a senior in Weinberg. “This is something that really does affect the lives of the students that we represent.”
Later, ASG discussed the approval of supplemental A-status group funding. In addition, Vice President for Accessibility and Inclusion Matt Herndon announced his resignation from his position for the remainder of the year to focus on self-care. He will be replaced by a new vice president early winter quarter.