Barnard’s Student Government Association brought out the big guns Monday night, discussing “diversity” on campus.

The big visitors on Monday were Jessica Nunez and Pamela Phayme, director of Barnard’s new Office of Diversity Initiatives.  Recently, the College Activities Office has undergone some restructuring, with its former director, Jessica Nunez, being promoted from out of the office. Nunez now oversees both the CAO and the ODI under the title of Assistant Dean for Student Development in Diversity & Activities. Joyce Lewandowski and Hayden Greene have been promoted to the positions of associate directors.

Nunez and Phayme’s goals in visiting SGA, they said, were to reaffirm their office’s relationship with students and get their advice on how best to use the ODI to help students feel at home. ”Where are we not having an impact?” Nunez wondered aloud. The offices would have to rope in those students whom they are not affecting to help promote diversity on campus.

As Giselle Leon, BC ‘10 and VP of Communications, and Phayme expressed, the offices and SGA would like to redefine “diversity” in campus groups by sponsoring new events. “SGA seems to be a little self-selective,” Leon said. She added that SGA is eager to help create campus events to bring together not just rep council members, but all students. “When an area or a department is student-driven, you all drive the energy in that space,” Phayme said.

Nunez emphasized the offices’ connection while still being separate. “While a lot of the work … can be very similar … the work that they’re doing is completely separate,” she said. ODI aims to provide “that space for students to just come and chill out,” said Nunez. Phayme described it as a “home away from home.” Phayme aims to continue the positive relationship students have had with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the CAO.

She plans to do this in part by working on the heritage months on Barnard’s campus. Nunez also wants to address general diversity issues on campus. It is important to “get the majority to show it [the issue] affects” more than just one select group: in other words, to show that issues that might seem to be specific to one person or group are often pertinent to a much larger portion of the student body, Nunez observed. The higher-ups are on board with these initiatives, too. Though there have been some “confusions based on some language President Spar used in some article,” said Nunez, “she and I are on the same page.”

Barnard’s EcoReps stopped by to promote the composting system in the corner of Lehman Lawn and the possibility of having a sustainability coordinator. They were followed by members of ROOTEd,  an organization which fosters discussion about power and privilege. The group hosted a conversation last Monday about Barnard-Columbia stereotypes and the relationship between the two schools. Their promotional posters stated these stereotypes, like “Barnard to bed, Columbia to wed,” to jar students into attendance, the representatives said. SGA members suggested a clarification of the meaning of these statements so students did not think that ROOTEd was putting them forward as truth.

Moving on, Leon reminded everyone about the Town Hall on the science requirement on November 30. Katie Palillo, BC ‘10 and president of SGA, added that the Seven Sisters conference, in which members of student governments from those colleges visit Barnard to talk about women in leadership, is now set for March 6 and 7, 2010. Next, Amy Chen, BC ‘10 and VP of Student Activities, brought up the co-sponsorship of the Asian American Alliance CultureSHOCK event. They asked SGA for $500, but, because they likely made a profit and received substantial amounts from other councils, only received $100.

Finishing out the evening were three council presentations. Verna Patti, BC ‘11 and junior representative to the Board of Trustees, presented OrgSync, a networking site she described as a “Facebook for organizations on campus.” With its calendars, club announcement, and website links, OrgSync could prove to be an asset to all organization on campus. The sign-up fee required, though, is $8,000 per year, which was not approved. The matter is still under consideration.