The Undergraduate Senate of the Student Government Association of the University of Massachusetts Amherst held its 1935th Regular Meeting on Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union.
After some initial announcements, S.89 was passed, appointing Keira Cook to the position of Attorney General.
President Colin Humphries, who sponsored the motion, said Cook has been “absolutely fantastic” in her role as acting Attorney General for the past month.
Some of Cook’s goals as attorney general include reforming the Code of Student Conduct and collaborating with SGA committees like the Undergraduate Services Committee (USC) and the Student Legal Services Office Advisory Committee (SLSOAC).
Then, the Senate debated Resolution 10, an SGA endorsement of the Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate pledge written by Hillel. The motion was sponsored by Senator Maia Shteyman, Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Senator Kundayi Manzando, Chair of the Undergraduate Services Committee, Senator Darren Truong and Senator Jacob Nevins.
The pledge condemns “hate in all forms including antisemitism, homophobia, Islamophobia and racism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and in our community.”
Other senators proposed an initial and an amended resolution that excluded language about the Trump Administration and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Senators expressed various concerns with the resolution, including the language because of the university’s current federal investigation, while some thought the SGA should take this opportunity to reaffirm its stance on DEI.
“Is it that hopeless that we’re just saying we can’t even fight for DEI anymore? I feel like we got to stand for something. I mean, what are we here for?” Senator Liam Rue said.
Other senators wanted any mention of “SGA” changed to “Undergraduate Senate of the Student Government Association (SGA)” to specify that they would pass the resolution, not the entire SGA.
Additionally, some senators were concerned that the resolution would be falsely interpreted as endorsing a specific political affiliation or ideology.
“We are not endorsing Hillel or any other specific religious organization … we’re just saying that we agree with the pledge and the event that’s happening, which is promoting Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate,” Chair Manzando said.
In the past year, SGA has not endorsed any religious organizations on campus.
Concerns for international students’ safety if the resolution were to draw more attention to the University were also expressed.
After much debate, the motion to endorse Spread Cream Cheese Not Hate was not passed after a vote by show of hands. The final vote was 11 in favor to 17 against.
S. 90 was also passed, appointing Secretary of External Affairs Kenyatta Heavlow to serve on the SLSOAC.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:53 p.m.
Julianna Pinelli can be reached at [email protected]
This article has been corrected to reflect the accurate vote count on Resolution 10.
