The place of diversity seats has been questioned since the creation of the new AAS constitution last semester when the diversity senate seats were carried over from the old SGO constitution.
Several senators and other students began to challenge the notion of diversity seats early this school year and eventually a few senators decided to circulate a petition in order to bring the issue to referendum. At least ten percent of the student body must sign a petition for it to be put on a ballot; the petition to eliminate diversity seats received 182 signatures.
Senator Elan Ghazal '05 was one of the students responsible for circulating the petition. "I thought it violated 'one vote, one person' because certain groups had more of a vote than other groups," said Ghazal, who is also serving on an ad hoc committee to find alternatives to diversity seats. "I am not against diversity, I just didn't like the system," he added.
This vote by the student body removed four active diversity seats representing the Latino/a, Asian, lesbian/bisexual/gay/transgender (LBGT) and international student communities.
Some senators were dissatisfied with the referendum. "I think that one group was more outspoken, and so the vote didn't show the will of the student body. In my opinion, democracy was poorly served," said Caleb Deats '06.
"The truth is, I have no idea what's going to happen. All I know was what I saw first semester and that diversity senators seemed to be the best solution for certain issues on campus," said former LBGT diversity senator Christopher Sorrentino '06, the Pride Alliance representative. "I'm not sure how things are going to look without them. I know we have minority groups that feel that the senate is no longer addressing their needs. I think what this next semester is going to be is looking at the student senators and their actions. My guess is as good as anyone's, but I think most of the impact is going to be long term."
The result of the referendum also had supporters. "Regardless of whether affirmative action should have a place in our student government or not, the end of the seats will open up more time for carrying out our main function: improving campus life," said Senate President Bob Razavi '03.
Five student groups approached the AAS last semester to request representation on the senate. Four of the five diversity senate seats were approved, but the AAS voted down a diversity senator for the fifth group, conservative students.
The controversy that arose between the two sides attracted national media attention from major organizations such as the FOX News Channel, National Review Online and The Boston Globe. Both the National Review Online and The Boston Globe discussed the Amherst College Republicans' attempt to win a diversity seat for conservative students.
"The media campaign sparked a dialogue on campus about diversity, color consciousness, racial preferences and academic discussion," said Amherst College Republicans Chairman Theodore Hertzberg '04.
Senator Lincoln Mayer '04 supported the referendum. "I will say, however, that the elimination of diversity senate seats represents the triumph of the principle of democracy over the principle of racial determinism," he said.
At Monday night's meeting of the AAS, Deats suggested that a committee be formed to look into alternatives for diversity seats. Deats' initial suggestion was that the AAS send out personal invitations to clubs to make them feel "more confident" and to encourage them to send members to meetings. The suggestion had some support, but was also met with a lot of opposition. "That would suggest that we value the input of some more than others. It would imply that the senate wants to choose who comes before it," said Mayer. Despite disagreement, the committee was formed by a majority vote.