Those upset with last week’s “He Said/She Said” column took their opinions further than a protest outside of the Mirror office by attending the FUSA Senate meeting on Sunday night. By participating in the public input section of the Senate meeting, in which any student or group of students can speak to the Senate members about their concerns or ideas, those upset with the column volunteered their opinions on the subject.
Senate Chair Frank Fioretti ’10, who spoke on behalf of the Senate, said that the protestors were not personally invited to the meeting. “They came on their own free will because they’re passionate about the issue — they decided to speak to the Senate about what could be done.” In no way, he said, were they invited and those involved with the “He Said” column shunned.
“It would not have been fair for me to invite one side of the story because it wasn’t like I was planning on having a debate at the meeting,” Fioretti said.
The members of the Senate came up with resolutions in response to the column, which they handed out at the discussion between the protesters and The Mirror on Monday night. One of the resolutions stated, “Be it resolved that the Fairfield University Student Association strongly recommends that the Fairfield University Administration respond to the aforementioned ‘He Said’ article with the same level of concern and proactive engagement as previous incidents of similar caliber have been handled.”
Fioretti noted that in 1984, the University suspended its subscription with the Mirror, due to a controversial article. He said that the Senate is “not trying to say what they (the Mirror) can or cannot write.” Instead, they hope that the University should respond in some way to the issue, especially since many members of the student body are enraged.
“In no way are we saying get rid of “He Said/She Said,” he said. Instead, the Senate wants to bring awareness to the language used in the column to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“The general consensus of the Senate was that there were lines in here that were implications of rape,” said Fioretti. However, there were some Senate members who abstained from supporting the resolution. “There was one viewpoint that thought it (“He Said/She Said” column) fit a certain persona.”
Since FUSA, especially the Senate, has taken steps in expressing their concern over the column and the issues it has provoked amongst the student body, Fioretti was asked if the Senate feels that the persona should be changed or modified.
As of now, he said, “I can’t answer that.”
Leave a Reply