Julie Thornton, St. Thomas’ Title IX coordinator, attended the general Undergraduate Student Government meeting to discuss the impact of Title IX at St. Thomas on Nov. 30. The general council also discussed the spring semester elections for USG and approved the physics club.

Guest Speaker: Julie Thornton

Julie Thornton attended the meeting to speak with the general council about her role as St. Thomas’ newly appointed Title IX coordinator.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in education, and as the Title IX coordinator, Thornton’s job is to prevent gender discrimination from happening at St. Thomas.

“Under Title IX, we have an obligation to eliminate gender discrimination from happening.” Thornton said. “In advance, we have to try to prevent it as much as possible.”

Thornton has been working with the student affairs directors, First-Year Experience coordinators, student leadership councils and the peer health educators at the Center for Well-Being to help improve prevention of gender discrimination.

When asked about how the university addressed incidents, Thornton talked about the difficulties with students coming forward about their experiences with discrimination and sexual incidents.

“When we find out about these things, we have to support the individuals who are impacted on both sides,” Thornton said. “Once we know, we will respond, but we can’t make a change if we don’t know.”

Thornton aims to change the culture around reporting discrimination incidents through building relationships with the people of St. Thomas. Thornton looks to develop a student advisory group  in order to get a better sense of how she can help improve things under Title IX.

“I’m trying to do everything I can to be transparent about what our processes and policies are,” Thornton said. “I can do my work and I can do it with pride and passion, but if I don’t have a relationship with you, I won’t be able to do the best job possible.”

Spring elections update

Maggie Bau, vice president of academic affairs, announced the official timeline for the spring semester elections. The spring elections are now open for students to submit their candidate statements and run for an open position on the council.

The positions available are:

Junior Engagement Senator

Junior Policy Senator

Senior Policy Senator

Transfer Senator

Vice President of Financial Affairs 

During the general meeting, Bau stated that Zoe Schearer had shown interest in the transfer senator position prior to the spring elections and will appear at the next USG meeting to partake in the appointment process.

Kate Kapsner, president of USG, noted that all positions are a part of the general council except for the vice president of financial affairs, which is a position on the executive board.

The candidate statements are due on Thursday, Dec. 7.

Available positions, timeline of the spring elections, and applications can be found on the USG TommieLink.

Club approved: Physics Club

Laney Tomaro and Dylan Ayres, president and vice president of physics club, proposed a club that would provide a space for students to nurture, grow and thrive within the field of physical science.

The physics club’s main mission is to help students connect with each other and faculty within the physics department. In comparison to other STEM departments, making connections with other physics students can be difficult due to their smaller numbers, according to Tomaro.

“Our mission is really to bridge those gaps and connect new and returning students with other students and faculty.” Tomaro said.

Since labs occur earlier in the day, physics club will meet once a week on Thursdays at 5 p.m in the Owens Science Hall.

“A lot of effort is being put into creating a beneficial environment for students studying or are interested in physics and that sense of community and solidarity is obtained by being surrounded with those who have similar interests as you.” Ayers said.

Physics club was approved by USG and students can join the club on TommieLink.

The next general meeting will be at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 at the Iverson Center for Faith.

Gwynnevere Vang can be reached at vang5129@stthomas.edu.