<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-2ca19fa5-4e89-22bd-960b-1956a73ff572"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear Undergraduates,</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I want to inform you of the details of last night’s meeting. First, I am providing some of my notes, </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mwj16M_1h9n7L4pzlKBZ5wbcE8Ski3Q12k7ZKwHWy64/edit?usp=sharing" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">available here.</span></a><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Together, we agreed on our vision for MIT: that we are “</span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">a community of hands-on problem solvers … eager to make the world a better place.” Today, the </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">MIT Deans will be holding Office Hours in Lobby 7 from 11 AM - 12 PM</span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, supplying food (!) and fostering conversations within our community.</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Our next steps:</span></p><ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Along with Vice President Kirk Kolenbrander, the UA is working on planning a </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">campus-wide event </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">to show the support within our community. More on this is soon to come.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">From our meeting, we decided to </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqr0KigPEeqaK0Gefsapx0JUTITpFFMAnk73wWD_S0KQbbHw/viewform?c=0&w=1" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">survey specific concerns</span></a><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> from students. We ask that you help us understand how we can increase feelings of safety on campus; what in particular are you worrying about? What sort of advocacy platform should we form? How much of that can be attributed to uncertainty/a lack of knowledge about the political process? How can MIT as an Institute support you? What sort of programming would you like to see? </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please let us know your thoughts by midnight on Sunday, November 13th. </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Depending on interest, we discussed holding a </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">panel of political science faculty or a series of talks </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">to more specifically address questions on policy changes and the political process of transitioning, to be available in person and then subsequently online via MITx. We also considered having an </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">online forum at <a href="http://discussion.mit.edu">discussion.mit.edu</a>, </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">where faculty would answer questions. </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We have emailed the Chair of the Faculty, Krishna Rajagopal, and Chancellor Cindy Barnhart to reach out to </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">faculty to be more understanding with coursework </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">during this time. An email went out this morning.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">For </span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">student exec teams</span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> overwhelmed with how to broach student group discussions, the UA Community Committee is working with Ed Bertschinger to reach out as a resource and source of support. </span></p></li></ul><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We discussed the importance of being accepting of others’ ideas, giving people a safe space to share their viewpoints. After receiving concerns over the marginalization of some students over their beliefs, only by engaging with others, and not isolating them, can we grow together. </span></p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As always, feel free to reach out to us!</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Warm wishes,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Sophia Liu</span></p><div><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div></span>
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