Ohio University Student Senate passed a resolution in support of the OU Survivor Advocacy Program suspending its services until a new program coordinator is hired.
Ohio University Student Senate members showed their Halloween spirit by attending Wednesday's meeting dressed as Olaf, Colonel Sanders and Batman — an act in contrast to the meeting’s serious conversation.
Costume-clad senators voted to support a suspension of Ohio University Survivor Advocacy Program services until “a trained professional, exempt from the university’s mandate to report instances of sexual misconduct, can resume survivor-centered services,” according to the resolution.
“Basically OUSAP needs our support,” Ellenore Holbrook, Senate Appropriations Commission vice-commissioner, said. “It needs our support as a Student Senate, it also needs our support as a student body.”
Delaney Anderson, OUSAP's former program coordinator, left OU Oct. 16 after taking a job outside of the university, according to a previous Post report. OUSAP is now without a licensed and credentialed program coordinator.
Anastasia Karpoukhina, a OUSAP peer advocate, spoke to the body about her experience with the program, and how services OUSAP offers to survivors has changed since Anderson left.
“It used to be the case that when a survivor would come to us we would actually be able to assist them, meet them at the hospital, provide any academic, educational or emotional services they needed,” Karpoukhina said. “Now when you call you can only hear a voicemail.”
According to a previous Post report, OUSAP’s peer advocate program has been put on hold since Anderson’s departure.
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Also at Wednesday night’s meeting, Jim Schaus, OU’s director of athletics, spoke to senate members about the ways Ohio athletics helps build a brand for the university, and why he believes supporting athletics is worth the cost to students.
“I showed a lot of ways athletics impacts enrollment, alumni relations, the people here on our campus, and to me, that’s a great investment, because the university doesn’t have large budgets to build branding and help enrollment,” Schaus said.
Other resolutions passed during the general body meeting include a resolution to change the name of the Greek life senator to “sorority and fraternity life senator,” and a resolution to appoint a president pro tempore when necessary, which would be appointed on a case-by-case basis, and would fill in for President Gabby Bacha during select conversations.
Bacha said a president pro tempore might be necessary if she as president wants to participate in a conversation that could be seen as a conflict of interest for her position.
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