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The Student Association passed a bill on Monday calling for President Joe Biden to cancel student debt. The bill contained information about student debt and why SA believes it’s necessary for Biden, an alumnus of Syracuse University’s College of Law, to use his power to cancel the debt.

During the meeting, SA Vice President Darnelle Stinfort said she was in “full support” of the bill, saying college tuition has drastically increased since the 1980s.

According to a report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, average college costs have risen by over 160% from 1980 to 2020. During the same period, average earnings from people ages 22 to 27 have grown by just 20%.

David Bruen, SA’s president, called student debt an existential threat, not just for the country’s economy but also for individuals.

“College and higher education was, at one point, supposed to be the great equalizer, and it has become a place where the extremely wealthy can buy their way into colleges,” Bruen said. “This is an intergenerational issue that expands from Gen Z to millennials to Gen X to baby boomers and no one should be left behind.”

At SU, the median federal loan debt of those who completed an undergraduate degree is $27,000, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Bruen and Stinfort also announced the upcoming 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Leadership Symposium, which SU will host from April 1 to 3. The theme for the symposium is “Breaking the Barrier: Creating an Intersectional Community Using Historical Context to Strengthen Connections Amongst Our Diverse Experiences.”

Student leaders from all 15 ACC schools will come to Syracuse for the first weekend of April. Bruen said that he expects over 100 representatives of ACC-affiliated universities to attend.

The theme focuses on the intersectionality of Syracuse as a city and SU’s student experience, Bruen said.

“It’s just breaking down a lot of the barriers that exist,” Bruen said, “I-81 is a physical barrier; the fact that we are literally on a hill and so distant from the rest of the city is in a way a barrier. We want to explore those barriers with some of our peers across the country and discuss ways to break down barriers in our own communities.”

The SA also passed a series of bills dealing with the upcoming election and other topics.

The SA is allocating $1,548 to the promotion of the upcoming election. They will partially use the funds to have actor Brian Cox, who plays the patriarchal figure on HBO’s “Succession,” to promote the election over Cameo. This is subject to change, though, according to the organization.

The association also approved funding to cater the upcoming SA presidential debate.

SA will be funding the catering of a Women in SA event as well as a Women in STEM panel. Yasmin Nayrouz, SA’s vice president of university affairs, announced that the Women in STEM panel will be held on March 25 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

DISCLAIMER: Yasmin Nayrouz was a staff writer for The Daily Orange. Since taking a position in the Student Association, she has not contributed to The D.O., and thus does not influence the editorial content of The D.O.

Published on March 22, 2022 at 12:38 am

Contact Danis: dwcammet@syr.edu