The Associated Students of Fort Lewis College began its weekly meeting on Feb. 26, in which they engaged in a workshop session. An agenda for the meeting was not posted publicly.
Before the workshop, the meeting began with Marisa Gutierrez and Suntilla Jack, president and vice president of Pueblo Alliance respectively, expressing interest in gaining assistance from ASFLC in sponsoring a youth dance group for their 10th Annual Feast Day.
Pueblo Alliance brings in at least four dance groups from different tribes every year. One dance group they would like to focus on this year is called Next Generation from the Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, Gutierrez said.
“It’s just really inspiring, their name is the Next Generation to continue on traditions and legacies,” Gutierrez said.
Since Pueblo Alliance expressed interest during this meeting, they will be presenting their request for financial support in the next ASFLC meeting, which will be an official business meeting that will follow parliamentary procedure, Brittany Bitsilly, president of ASFLC, said.
ASFLC will have a bill written for them before their next meeting on March 5 where they will deliberate, Bitsilly said.
The meeting then pivoted towards a presentation on student well-being led by Kendra Gallegos, the Director of Student Well-Being.
The presentation included a breakdown of services provided by Fort Lewis College such as Basic Needs Support, Case Management, Behavioral Intervention Team, Peer Support, and Health Promotion and Training/Education.
Statistics on reported student safety on and off campus, housing insecurity, food insecurity, homelessness, and mental health were shared in the presentation based on Strategic Plan data from 2023 and Basic Needs data from spring 2024.
The Strategic Plan is a five year plan that aims to increase housing on and off campus, centralize well-being services, boost on campus food production that includes culturally relevant foods, solidify partnership with Indian Health Services and Denver Indian Health Services, and increase participation in trauma informed training, Gallegos said.
The presentation was followed by a You Can Help a Friend training led by Bitsilly, Matt Miguel, speaker of the senate, and Taylar Moorhouse, the student well-being coordinator.
“You Can Help a Friend" training is provided by the Jed Foundation, which gets colleges and universities to take a deeper look at mental health as a campus-wide issue through advising, admissions, the Health Center, campus police, conduct, and more, Gallegos said.
This would incorporate actions like looking at policies and promoting help-seeking behaviors, Gallegos said.
“It is so important that we’re building community and not just in the traditional ways, but in ways that fit for all kinds of different people,” Gallegos said.
FLC has the funds to become a JED Campus for four years and is currently in the second year, Gallegos said.
The training involves looking at ways to identify signs of distress in peers, actions to take, and where to go for support, Gallegos said.
While ASFLC has done trainings in the past, this is the first extensive mental health training they have had, Bitsilly said.
After the training, the meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m