ASM’s Last Fall Semester Meeting Invites Student Group Displaced By UW Construction, Madison Mayor Rhodes-Conway
Posted: 2022-12-06 11:51:45 Expiration: 2032-12-13 21:51:45
Associated Students of Madison
333 East Campus Mall, 4301 Student Activity Center, Madison, WI
Website: asm.wisc.edu Phone: 608/265-4ASM
E-mail: press@asm.wisc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07 December 2022
CONTACT:
Meghan Savaglia, Press Office Director
press@asm.wisc.edu
262.441.1041
ASM’s Last Fall Semester Meeting Invites Student Group Displaced
by UW Construction, Madison Mayor Rhodes-Conway
MADISON, WI — The Associated Students of Madison Student Council will meet this Wednesday, November 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the Hearing Room of the Student Activity Center, located at 333 East Campus Mall, Room #4301.
Mecha de UW Madison, a historically Latine organization seeking to build empowerment of underrepresented identities on campus, has been invited to give a brief presentation. Mecha promotes self-determination and liberation through the presence of cultural expression using education, politics, and art. UW-Madison is demolishing the Mecha House, the Zoe Bayliss Housing Cooperative and the Indigenous Student Center (ISC), which houses 6 indigenous student organizations including Wunk Sheek, Alpha Pi Omega, MadTown Singers, Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums (TLAM), Indigenous Law Student Association, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Additionally, the university’s demolition will erase more than 18 off-campus student housing units. The demolition serves to build an underground parking lot and outdoor terrace space for the new Levy Hall.
Loss of these spaces is a continued pattern for the University. In 2011, Mecha lost their house to demolition for construction of the Hamel Music Center. Mecha student activists pushed for the university to provide their current space for students at 206 Bernard Court. As of this press release, there is no plan for equivalent relocation of Mecha and the ISC with the current Campus Master Plan. The Campus Master Plan has been published since 2015, the same year Mecha was moved into a home UW had already slated for demolition.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway will also host a Q&A with UW Madison students and the Associated Students of Madison. Rhodes-Conway has officially launched her re-election campaign, and increased voter turnout in student wards and districts have made measurable differences in city and statewide elections, as seen in the reelection of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. ASM encourages all students to attend to ask questions.
Written or video comments can be sent to studentreps@asm.wisc.edu. All UW students can also attend and speak on any agenda item or other issues in the Open Forum on December 7. The agenda for the December 7th Student Council meeting can be found here.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
On MECha, Indigenous Student Center Displacement:
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Recording of the November 30, 2022 Indigenous Student Center and Mecha Community Town Hall
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“Displaced Again? Indigenous Students Concerned About UW Master Plan” from Madison365, July 2019
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“Why Do Native American Students Only Make Up Only 0.2% of UW Madison’s Student Population?” from the Daily Cardinal, March 2022
CONTACT:
Regarding MEChA, Indigenous Student Center Displacement:
Liana Bautista
MEChA Programming Coordinator
(414) 405-7908
lbautista2@wisc.edu
Bobbi Skenandore
Indigenous Student Center, Program Coordinator
bskenandore@wisc.edu
Regarding ASM:
Meghan Savaglia
Press Office Director
(262) 441-1041
press@asm.wisc.edu
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-- Associated Students of Madison: Meghan Savaglia