Syracuse University’s Student Association approved a motion on Monday night to fund buses that will transport students to March For Our Lives, a demonstration that will address gun safety in schools.

The demonstration will take place on March 24 in Washington, D.C., with hundreds of sister marches planned in other cities as well, including one in Syracuse.

The March For Our Lives is a movement initially spearheaded by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization that urges an end to gun violence, has also contributed to the planning effort.

The funding approved by SA will cover four buses in total. Two of those buses will transport students to the march in Washington, D.C., and two will transport students to the local march. The Syracuse march will also be accessible by buses running in the Connective Corridor, which loops between downtown and SU’s campus.

The possibility of allocating funding for more buses will be discussed further at a series of meetings this week.

Diasia Robinson, a senior international relations major and SA’s co-chair of diversity affairs, is organizing transportation to the march, which she said was prompted by student outreach.

“Students have emailed me, called me, found me in Schine Student Center to ask if SA was planning a bus to the March of Our Lives,” Robinson said. “I think that this is something that students are really excited about at Syracuse University and ESF.”

SA Vice President Angie Pati said it’s the organization’s job to represent the student body, and the decision to provide funding to send students to the event doesn’t indicate that SA itself is taking a stance on what has been characterized as a “gun-control rally” by multiple publications.

“Our job as SA is to be representatives of the student body, and to represent issues that they feel passionately about,” Pati said. “This is how we are advocating for them, and they can voice what they believe in, but it’s not us voicing our opinion as an organization.”

Other Business

Pati addressed the recent decision to shelve a planned disaster relief trip to Houston.

In an interview with The Daily Orange on Sunday, Pati said SA opted to not organize a trip to Texas to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Instead, she said, SA would focus on developing a new, long-term international advocacy initiative.

SA members discussed the impact of the Puerto Rico aid trip, and some expressed a desire to return and strengthen ties with the island. Pati stressed the importance of ensuring that aid trips are made with the goal of helping the community as much as possible.

“Are we really making the impact that we want to make, or are we just doing disaster tourism?” Pati said.

Members generally agreed that SA would reexamine Houston aid and said some sort of aid should be given to Houston in the form of a relief trip or a donation.

Published on March 6, 2018 at 12:32 am

Contact Ryan: rarozenb@syr.edu