Graphic by Sana Amin/The Gazelle

The first General Assembly of the Spring 2016 semester at NYU Abu Dhabi opened with a review of the recent Global Summit, which took place at NYU Shanghai. Global Vice President Samia Ahmed recalled that the main outcomes of the summit included increasing collaboration across the Global Network University and planning events in parallel with NYU’s Violet 100, the university’s official spirit week.

Additionally, a proposal was made to construct a Global Student Government to represent the entire NYU student body, including but not limited to graduate and undergraduate students in all global sites. When asked if the voting would be skewed towards NYU New York students, who make up the majority of the student population, Ahmed stated that they have expressed this concern, yet NYUNY’s voter turnout, recorded at 10%, is relatively smaller to that of other global sites.

In the new business session of the GA, two topics were discussed: the end-of-year event and a proposal by junior Patrick Sheldon Wee, who is currently studying at NYUNY and serving as the NYUAD Senator. With respect to the end-of-year event, students were encouraged to approach Student Government with any ideas they may have for the event.

As for the proposal, Wee suggested creating an Inclusion and Diversity Committee based on its counterpart at NYUNY. Some students expressed concerns that this may be irrelevant to NYUAD’s student population and that NYUAD has departments like the Office of Intercultural Education and Spiritual Life which deal with similar issues. Wee argued that this committee would be different as it is a student initiative, and that the creation of such a committee would anticipate issues that might arise as NYUAD continues to expand its student population. Vice President Quan Vuong concluded this debate by stating that they would look for student interest in the proposal.

The coming GA will have a forum on the Student Interest Group Council.