"Banner inside the Memorial Room (ballroom) of student union building w:Willard Straight Hall at Cornell University" by Alex (eflon) (19 October 2009)
The Cornell Review reached out to Student Assembly presidential candidates Duncan Cady ‘23 and Valeria Valencia ‘23 to learn more about their respective platforms.
Cady has served as Undergraduate Representative to the University Assembly, as well as the Students with Disabilities Representative to the Student Assembly. Valencia currently serves as the Student Assembly’s First-Generation Students Representative, Chair of the Academic Policy Committee, and, as we have extensively covered, the Vice President of Finance on the Student Assembly.
After reading both candidates’ campaign statements on the Spring 2022 election website, our team assembled and sent a list of tailored questions to each candidate for further comment. Valencia responded to the Review’s request for comment last Tuesday. Cady replied to the Review’s questions earlier today.
Interview with Valeria Valencia ‘23
The Cornell Review: What, in your opinion, are the pressing concerns Covid still poses to the Cornell community, and how would you address them?
Valeria Valencia: We have been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic since the Spring of 2020. Although many of us may be anxious for things to get back to normal, this won’t be possible until Covid stops being a threat to our community. As part of my platform, I mentioned ensuring that we, as students, should get the resources and support we need while we still navigate this pandemic. I would urge administration to offer a virtual learning option for students that might feel uncomfortable attending class in person during an increase in cases. I would also urge administration and professors to relax attendance requirements as some students are faced with making the difficult decision of whether to attend class while feeling sick or to stay home and risk grade penalties.
The Review: You plan to advocate for “a review of the Student Health Insurance Plan.” In what ways in the S.H.P. lacking, and are there any specific shortcomings you would address?
Valencia: The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHP) is a health plan that all Cornell students are mandated to enroll in, unless they qualify for New York State Medicaid, in which case students would enroll in SHP+. Cornell students can request to waive this requirement if their insurance meets university requirements. I have found that Cornell tends to deny waivers for students with out-of-state insurance (like myself). This forces students to pay $3,100 for the Student Health Insurance Plan. Moreover, regardless of which insurance a student has, we are all forced to pay a $420 health fee. If students are already paying so much for the Student Health Insurance, we shouldn’t have to pay an extra $420 health fee. I plan on working with administration as well as Cornell Health and campus organizations to urge administration to lower the costs of the Student Health Insurance Plan as well as the mandatory health fee.
The Review: What are your plans to extend gender-neutral bathrooms, and would your proposal convert currently gendered bathrooms?
Valencia: Our campus already offers some gender-neutral bathrooms. They can be seen in some resident halls and campus buildings. My goal with adding more gender-neutral bathrooms is to make students feel more comfortable. I would work with on-campus organizations to survey where the demand for gender-neutral bathrooms is the highest and go from there. This can look like either completely transforming an unused space into a gender-neutral bathroom, or converting currently gendered bathrooms. It will all come down to what works best logistically while also taking input from the community. Again, my goal with this is to make students feel safe and comfortable on their own campus!
The Review: Cornell’s Faculty Senate did not come to a clear conclusion on whether anti-racism training would be mandatory or optional for faculty. Would your proposal for mandatory diversity training for Cornell Faculty be different from the university’s Anti-Racism initiative?
Valencia: My proposal for mandatory diversity training for Cornell faculty would draw on a lot of similarities that the Faculty Senate could not come to a clear conclusion about. I would work with the Faculty Senate to hear out their concerns and see why they could not come to a clear conclusion. No issue is black and white and with a topic as important to the community as anti-racism, it’s important that we take the time to do this right and hear out everyone’s concerns. Students at Cornell come from a wide variety of backgrounds and identities, it’s what makes this campus so beautiful, so it’s important that our faculty are knowledgeable about all the different identities of Cornell students. In this way, students can feel more supported and welcomed on our campus.
The Review: How do you plan to accomplish the elimination of gym, PE, and laundry fees?
Valencia: Eliminating gym, PE, and laundry fees has been an initiative that countless SA representatives have ran [sic] on. So what makes this time different? Our campus is in a very unique position. We are coming out of a pandemic, and Administration is raising $5 billion dollars through the “Do the Greatest Good” campaign, and we have seen that the administration is willing to work with us, as they have recently raised the wages for Cornell dining employees after months of advocating for it. I believe that now is the time where we can really push Administration to eliminate all these fees and get them to listen and take action. Lots of other universities offer free gyms, PE classes, and cover laundry fees, why can’t we? The university claims time and time again that they really do care about our mental health, expensive PE classes, gym fees, and laundry fees are all detrimental to one’s mental health. I would tell the administration that, if they really did care about our mental health, then they would take the necessary steps to cover gym, PE, and laundry fees. By working closely with Administration and different departments at Cornell, my hope is that we can actually accomplish what so many before me have set out to do.
Interview with Duncan Cady ‘23
The Review: We would like to start with your position on health, an issue with which many students are worried. What are your specific plans to provide more student health resources and what are we lacking currently?
Duncan Cady: Undoubtedly the biggest issue on health for most students is mental health. Cornell has had a bad reputation and sadly, as of recently, not the best record of supporting our own. Based on the comprehensive mental health review from a few years back, we know the administration has the knowledge and the know-how to advance wellness recourse for all students. It is just a matter of pressuring the administration to act. It is for this reason I partner with the Faculty Senate and all of the University’s assemblies to support the new Natatorium (pools) Project, a direct recommendation from our own mental health review, something that University development is now working to raise funds for. This is just one example of how I have worked on this SA to support the student experience, recognizing we are all people outside of the classroom who need well-supported resources to thrive.
The Review: In this same vein, your statement on the SA website states your concerns regarding accessibility. What accessibility issues still affect campus life, and how will you mitigate them?
Cady: I sadly believe some of the best things to offer on our campus are out of many students’ reach. The Student Assembly, I simply believe, needs to work more to connect what we have with those who need it. Over this last year for me, that has been physical accessibility, by working in and out of the classroom on numerous issues for students with disabilities. In the grand scheme of things, I think a more accessible Cornell starts with a more accessible S.A., an S.A. where the concerns from our community are legitimized and acted on, not just talked about in elections then ignored.
The Review: Finally, in accordance with your pledge to listen to students’ concerns, would you solicit or accept motions or ideas for motions from the student body?
Cady: Motions and ideas from the student body are the core of why I am running. I care a lot about all sorts of issues of mental health, of unequal access, and so much more, but the Assembly as a body built to represent must meet the criteria of listening and acting on what the students want, not simply our own notions of what is right. I submitted over 15 resolutions this year, everything from investing in services like EARS, supporting our student vets, and even supporting students’ interest with Slope Day, but I did this not just because I felt it was right, but because it is what would represent the interests of students ready to welcome change and ready to work for it too.
[UPDATE] This article has since been updated to include responses from Duncan Cady ’23 to our questions.
Samuel Kim, managing editor of the Cornell Review, contributed to this reporting.
