Most senators abstained on Armenian genocide bill

On April 19, The Daily editorial board criticized the ASSU Undergraduate Senate’s passage of a bill regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide (“Bill on Armenian genocide falls outside of Senate’s purview”). The Daily was right to admonish the Senate for passing a bill on a “non-campus-related” issue. According to the ASSU Constitution, Senate resolutions can only be passed about an issue only “if there is at least one Stanford student who is affected by the matter in a substantially different manner than would be the case if he or she were not a university student.”

However, The Daily failed to report that the bill was passed by a vote of 4-1-5. Half the senators present abstained on the vote because we felt it was an inappropriate topic for the Senate to consider. In retrospect, our stance on passing bills on non-campus-related issues would have been clearer had we voted no.

It should be made clear to students that only four senators felt it was appropriate to address non-campus-related issues. Rather than casting one “no” vote and five abstentions, the six who objected should have been united in a “no” vote, on the basis of this being an issue outside the purview of the ASSU.

I hope that the controversy over this matter makes it clear to the new Senate that it is inappropriate — and unconstitutional — for the ASSU to take stances on issues that do not have a direct effect on Stanford students.

Chris Nguyen

Chair, Senate Adminisration and Rules Committee (2004-2005)

Member, Undergraduate Senate (2005-2006)