User:Wilcje/Pomona Student Union

Pomona Student Union (PSU): A non-partisan, student-run organization at Pomona College that seeks to spark dialogue on campus. The PSU focuses on promoting and preserving intellectural diversity by bringing in prominent speakers, sponsoring student and faculty debates and panels, as well as hosting social events to discuss current events.

= History = The PSU was founded in the spring of 2003 in the wake of the US invasion of Iraq. A group of students at Pomona were frustrated by the lack of viewpoints being represented in dialogue around campus. The first PSU event featured professors and students debating the merits of the occupation.

= Mission Statement = The Pomona Student Union is committed to raising the level of honest and open dialogue on campus. By helping students become more knowledgeable and better informed on the social and political issues that confront our society, we create informed citizens to better serve us all.

A nonpartisan organization, run by students and supported by faculty and the administration, the Pomona Student Union focuses on promoting and preserving the intellectual diversity of the public sphere on campus. The Pomona Student Union extends these values beyond the classroom, engaging the community in the search for progress.

Underpinning the goals and aims of the Pomona Student Union is the tenet that one cannot possess a firm belief in anything unless it is challenged. To increase informed decision-making in Claremont and beyond, the Pomona Student Union seeks to foster an environment in which students are exposed to a multiplicity of perspectives.

Towards these ends, the Pomona Student Union invites prominent speakers from across the spectrum to talk and debate. In addition to bringing in speakers, the Pomona Student Union sponsors student and faculty debates and panels, as well as informal social events structured around current issues.

= Organization = A president and three vice-presidents head the PSU Board. The president runs board and executive board meetings, is responsible for communication with the administration, and is the architect of the PSU’s vision. The Vice-President of Operations is the chief financial officer of the PSU, in charge of budgeting and financial processes, as well as being responsible for logistical management and supervision. The Vice-President of Outreach is responsible for establishing and maintaining good communication with the college community and for recruiting new members. The Vice-President of Development is charged with handling alumni and donor outreach.

The PSU board is divided into three committees: International Policy, Domestic Policy and the Themes Committee, each led by a chair or co-chairs. The International and Domestic Policy committees plan events that address relevant political and social issues in the international and domestic spheres, respectively. The Themes Committee is responsible for identifying a theme which transcends such geographical spheres and organizing events around it throughout the semester. This theme is chosen a semester in advance, and will change each semester. Events dealing with on-campus issues, non-policy related events, and events aimed to increase student/faculty interaction are the responsibility of every member of the board. Each committee has six or seven members, who plan the events with the advice and guidance of the chair or co-chairs. The board as a whole meets weekly, and individual committees meet as necessary.

The president, vice-presidents and committee chairs make up the executive board, which reviews most organizational issues, helps select next year’s board, and addresses any time-sensitive concerns of the PSU. The executive board meets on an ad-hoc basis.

The PSU has a faculty advisory board, meant to ensure long-term continuity of the organization. The faculty board is briefed on the actions of the PSU each semester, and offers advice and assistance with PSU programming and operations, especially its dealings with the college administration.

Finally, the PSU has an administrative advisor who works closely with the president and vice-presidents to ensure the stability and continuity of the organization. For the first four years of the organization this advisor was Dean of Students Ann Quinley. Following her retirement, Associate Dean of Students Neil Gerard has taken on this role.

= Past Events =

Great Debate 2009: Hate, Freedom and the Regulation of Speech
On February 12, 2009, the PSU hosted a debate on what limits, if any, should be place on free speech. The debate between Mari Matsuda and Nadine Strossen explored the tension between those who value all speech as free speech and those who seek to limit hate speech to create a safer environment for targets of those inflammatory remarks. Nadine Strossen is the former President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Mari Matsuda is a well-known critical race theorist and a scholar of law at the University of Hawaii Law School.

China Environment Series 2008
In the spring of 2008, the PSU hosted a series of 3 events focusing on the rise of China in light of environmental issues. The first installment focused on nature reserves and their role in the budding evironmental movement in Southwest China. The second lecture explored the effect of river-damming on minority groups in Tibet. The final talk featured award-winning Chinese enviornmal journalist Liu Jianqiang discussing the implications of China's newly empowered enviornmenal movement as a grassroots movement for politial reform.

Prisoner Detentions in Guantanamo Bay
Former Justice Department Official and Professor of Law John Yoo and Human Rights First Senior Associate Avidan Cover debated the use of indefinite prisoner detention at Guantanamo Bay. John Yoo is the author of legal memos for the Bush Administration justifying their policies on prisoner detention, torture, the Geneva Convention, and domestic wiretapping. He has been profiled recently in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Mr. Cover, a human rights lawyer, served on the legal team of a Guantanamo detainee and sued to allow detainees the right to a hearing.

Generation Debate
This fall 2007 debate explored the essence of our generation and compare ourselves to past generations with the help of two very well-known authors, Jeff Chang and Neil Howe.

Jeff Chang has written extensively on race, culture, politics, the arts, and music. His first book, Can't Stop Won't Stop, garnered many honors, including the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award.

Neil Howe is an historian, economist, and demographer, with graduate degrees in economics and history from Yale University. Neil Howe has spoken to a wide variety of corporate and nonprofit audiences-from Ford Motor Company, J. Walter Thompson, AARP, and PBS to Merrill Lynch, the Marine Corps, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Some of these audiences are now clients of LifeCourse Associates, his consulting firm. He is also Advisor on Public Policy to the Blackstone Group, Senior Advisor to the Concord Coalition, and Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.