The first Student Senate session of the fall sparked controversy amongst senators this Wednesday. They discussed a “fake hate crime” resolution intended to condemn Texas A&M student Isaiah Martin for a hate crime he was accused of creating against himself this June.
After a period of questioning and discussion, the resolution was withdrawn by a 22 to 21 vote. If passed, the Senate would have supported an action to expel Martin for the alleged act.
Chair of Diversity & Inclusion Iman Ahmed was adamant about her reasons to vote against the resolution. She encouraged her fellow senators to do the same.
“It clearly aims to viciously attack a student and subject them to more scrutiny over an incident that has not been proven to be done by them and has not proven to be a hate crime, let alone a fake one,” Ahmed said. “As student senators who are elected to represent students, [we should] not smear their character over inaccuracies.”
Also, Student Senate passed a resolution condemning antisemitism, introduced by Chair of Legislative Relations Joshua Feldman, to denounce the recent rise in antisemitism throughout the world and the United States.
Feldman began by presenting the resolution’s motivations, stating how students staying at home continue to experience antisemitism.
“This summer with many Aggies no longer present in College Station and currently residing at home, many members of our Jewish Aggie community have been experiencing and continue to experience profound antisemitism throughout the United States,” Feldman said.
After a period of amending and debating, the resolution passed by a vote of 48-0-3. Amongst these amendments was a list of anti-semitic acts that occurred within the past week.
“The vandalism of a New Mexico Holocaust museum on Aug. 5, Indiana High School students forming a human swastika and utilizing Nazi salutes in late August, a bomb threat at a Virginia Synagogue on Aug. 21, a South Carolina Holocaust memorial was vandalized in late July.” Feldman said.
Student Senate also discussed a National Suicide Awareness Month resolution, which passed by a vote of 46 to 1 and was established to honor the month and provide statistics and resources to the A&M community.
A police appreciation resolution was also discussed, made to recognize the work of officers at the university and around the nation in the midst of an increase in violence towards local and national law enforcement.
Finally, a Hispanic Heritage Month resolution was also presented, which aims to recognize the important achievements of Hispanic students at A&M. This resolution passed by a vote of 50-0-1.