Board Meeting, Minutes - January 10th, 2016

Chippewa Valley Civil Liberties Union

Board Meeting Minutes for January 10, 2016

Acoustic Cafe

Present: Myron Buchholz, Ann Heywood (recording), Mildred Larson, David Shih, Paul Wagner (presiding)

Absent: Lindsey Brandrup, Marni Kaiser, David Rice, Dr. Mahmoud Taman, Sara Thielen,

1. Paul called the meeting to order at 6:40 pm. (The by-laws require a quorum of four.)

2. The minutes of the December 6, 2015 meeting were approved as emailed.

3. Since David Rice was absent we did not have a treasurer’s report. He has not advised us of any account activity since the last meeting.

4. Ann emailed the state board report before the meeting. We talked a bit more about the pending redistricting case that potentially could alter our “one person, one vote” concept to “one voter, one vote,” which we very much oppose. Ann explained the new ACLU policy on the Second Amendment, a policy which recognizes the need for gun regulation but not at the expense of other search and seizure and due process protections in the Bill of Rights. Myron noted that the words “well-regulated” appear in the Second Amendment, but not even that much is given for protection of rights in other amendments.

5. Elections. We are in the second year of a two year term for our current officers, but with Stephanie’s leaving the board, we are without a president. We discussed options, and Ann was elected President, leaving open the secretary position. She will write the minutes for this meeting, and we will select a new secretary at the next meeting. The continuing officers are Vice-President – Paul Wagner, and Treasurer – David Rice.

6. David Rice had alerted us to the possibility of participating in Senior Americans Day at UW-EC on Tuesday, June 6, 2016. Since David was not here to explain any details, we discussed our general support for the idea of participating, but did not go forward with a motion to allot funds.

7. Addressing concerns that emerged from the meeting of Chris Ahmuty, Mildred Larson, Selika Ducksworth, Debra Barker, and Ari Anand during Chris’s October visit to the Chippewa Valley, David Shih discussed at length his contacts with students of color as well as white students, his and their awareness of a white supremacy culture, the experience of a student working in an administration office, efforts of students to engage administration with their demands, the history of funded efforts on campus to address the problems, and his plans to do faculty workshops in Stevens Point this spring, He said, “Whoever ‘gets racism’ organizes against it,” and that is a hope he brings to this board. He mentioned Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by James W. Loewen as a life-changing read. Myron agreed with that.

We discussed what to do with all this information. David will contact several people at the university to see if they want any particular help from us and what that might be. David also agreed to put together a presentation on the subject for the public and university community. A likely date will be in April.

8. We agreed in general to hold meetings on the second Sunday evening of the odd numbered months, but we scheduled our next meeting for February 21, pending an online check of absent members’ availability, at Herrick and Hart office.

9. The meeting adjourned about 8:15 p.m.