QPOC Receives Senate Funding for Guest Speaker

kit yan. taken from the artist's website.

QPOC (Queer People of Color) and multiple other clubs have been requesting the Student Senate to allocate funding to bring Kit Yan to speak and teach a workshop at Sarah Lawrence. Kit Yan is a slam poet who writes and speaks about their experiences as being queer, transgender, and Asian American.

Treasurer Aliza Yousey warned about the net budget request of $5,000 has increased to $7,000 during the past week, and expressed concern about spending that much money on a single event, despite SAS recommending a mention to fund in full. The treasurer continued by providing some financial context, mentioning that SAS started with $42,000 dollars, has funded $25,000 of requests, and currently has $17,000 dollars remaining, with seven more meetings. QPOC’s request represents 40% of remaining funds in the fall programming budget, leaving only $10,000 left. QPOC stated that they have applied for the Diana Leslie fund and will use all of the money provided before using Senate fall line funds if their budget is accepted.

In response to senate questioning the necessity of the performer being Kit Yan, QPOC stated that Yan’s art is relevant to the struggles of LGBTQ+ people and minorities on campus. Senator Leonardo Rocchiccioli stated that in Senates recent history, no budget has been backed by such a large volume of clubs (with around 6 clubs approving of the budget) which signifies that a lot of people on campus would probably be interested in the event. Parliamentarian Samuel-James DeMattio branched off of senator Leonardo’s comments, and claimed that the event is “inherently great for the campus and for the students”. Almost all senators agreed that the performance and workshop would be beneficial for the image of the college and the student body.

With 18 senators voting, the vote passes 16-2 to approve the budget for QPOC’s requests for funding to have Kit Yan’s performance and workshop at Sarah Lawrence, as long as they use the Diana Leslie fund and look for a larger venue for the performance.

Trevor Falsey '21

Editor's note: Kit Yan will be performing on Wednesday, November 15 at 8:00 in Common Ground. More information is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/128564341126999/