This year, the Diversity Affairs Council launched an inaugural project to collect data on the demographics of our Student Union officers to better understand how our student body is represented in SU. The overall purpose of this project was to identify which voices are present, which are not present and use this information to work towards further inclusivity and representation in SU. We gathered data on every branch of SU and found that representation was greatly varied. In this op-ed, we chose to direct our focus to Senate and Treasury as these are two of the largest branches, and yield a large influence with the student body. We received 122 responses from all branches of SU, garnering a 75 percent response rate overall. We hope that this data can be used as a stepping stone in moving forward towards a more representative SU.

On average, SU officers rated SU’s diversity as 6.38 on a 1 (low) to 10 (high) scale. This score indicates that members of SU realize that SU is not yet at the level of diversity that we want it to be. For instance, there is no self-identified trans student representation in SU as a whole. There is little to no representation of Black students in Senate and Treasury. None of the Treasury representatives self-identified as Low Socioeconomic Status. Less than five percent of Senate identify as international students. Over 95 percent of Senate self-identifies as heterosexual. Numbers like these are not exclusive to simply Senate and Treasury, and it is clear that there is work to be done in increasing the representation and diversity within Student Union as a whole.

Why does this gap in representation exist? The lack of diversity is not the fault of any one person or groups of people. It is reductive and harmful to ask students who are minorities on this campus and already feel marginalized why they are not running for SU positions. Advocacy efforts must go beyond simply encouraging underrepresented groups to run for SU positions. Rather, we must recognize that an internal culture shift has to occur—one that creates an atmosphere within SU that encourages diversity in all of its forms and is a place where more voices can be heard. This culture shift within SU can help address the needs of marginalized and underrepresented students on this campus.

We know that this shift has already started to occur, and we hope to see this progress continue to grow. Currently, 63 percent of Treasury is female, which is an increase from the 25 percent we saw in 2014. Senate’s socioeconomic makeup is highly representative of our student body. Representation of non-able-bodied students has increased in both Treasury and Senate. We have a very diverse SU Executive Board and the first international student SU president, which is progress that should not be underwritten. This project is also not just about ensuring diversity on paper and filling representation quotas, but about fostering inclusivity and questioning existing power structures that amplify some voices over others. Beyond electing underrepresented students, we must ensure that the environment we create is welcoming and inclusive.

Our goal in publishing this data is to empower our student body to hold SU accountable in its role to advocate for all students. By putting this information in the hands of our students, we hope to give them the tools to demand change. We want to be fully transparent in identifying where progress has been made and where there is still room for growth. These numbers are meant to remind SU officers of our responsibility to continue to advocate for those voices that may not be present in the room. It is SU’s duty to work on behalf of all students, and this is not possible until SU itself fully reflects our diverse students. By working in partnership with our students and SU, we hope to create a community that is welcoming and representative of students from all backgrounds.

In Solidarity,

Diversity Affairs Council
Ruby Arora
Hari Anandarajah
Daniela Jimenez
Joy Korley
Paul Lachman
Divya Babbula
Lizzie Franclemont
Jennifer Frey
Jenny Zhang
Carl Hooks
Ari Gao
Bria White