1. health and fitness

Y NOT THE Y?
Cecilia and Jerome’s Campus Y Co-Presidents Platform!
2015-2016!
WELCOME :)
TO YOUR CAMPUS Y
WELCOME
Cecilia and Jerome met one fateful day during their first year at Carolina. As members of the UNC Sex Ed Squad through an APPLES
Communications class called “Performing Sexual Health”, Jerome brought his theatrical enthusiasm and Cecilia, her knowledge of sexual education
initiatives. While Jerome learned about AIDS stigma, Cecilia learned how to enunciate and project her voice on stage. Both experiencing an area new to
them, they brought their perspective skills together in a sexual education theatre show for high school students.
After that semester, Cecilia and Jerome ventured out into Carolina, exploring their passions, and getting involved in many different aspects of campus,
with one common connection: the Y. Jerome as a Bonner Leader and Cecilia as a Global Gap Year Fellow, both experience the Y differently, but share
the same vision of service to others and social activism. As members of the Y, Cecilia and Jerome consider themselves working within the periphery of
the Y, sometimes even having an outsiders perspective. The diversity of their background, their involvement on campus, and their own perspectives, can
bring a much needed new outlook for the Y.
During the many conversations the pair had together, one particular anecdote stood out to them. Cecilia explained that her mother always says, “La
caridad empiesa en la casa”, which directly translates to “charity begins at home”. We have interpreted this phrase as meaning that the virtue of
selflessness, and service to others begins in the communities you are closest to. We see that as meaning that our work towards social justice and serving
our community begins in our UNC community, more specifically, the Campus Y.
It’s clear to us that our main goal in why we want to be Co-Presidents of the Campus Y is to make sure that student voices and student movements are
being amplified and supported through all the tools and resources that the Y can offer. That means using the Y space, funds, agency, faculty,
committees, and initiatives to best serve social justice movements in our local and global communities.
We want every student to think of the Y when planning or mobilizing any initiatives aligning with the Y’s vision and mission of engaging students in
the pursuit of social justice in the Chapel Hill community and our world. Thank you all for the work you do within the Y and the greater campus
community. We hope we can instill the spirit of activism in every student at UNC, so that when they are preparing their to enter their battle for social
justice, they will think “Y Not The Y?”
Thank you for your time and we look forward to serving and working with you!
Cecilia Polanco and Jerome Allen <3
OUR Y PLATFORM
Y Not The Y?
In the short and jam packed year we would serve as Co Presidents, we are conscious of our reach for
change, and would like to focus less on the Y as a physical space and more on the Y as a living, breathing
entity, with ideas, beliefs, motivations, and passions for social change. We will briefly go over
infrastructural approaches and evaluate their efficacy, maintaining that which works and not reinventing
the wheel. This will allow us to unify the collective consciousness of the Y towards the root of the issues.
The Y has historically been about grassroots movements, started by passionate students who sought to be
agents of change. Those students, and those grassroots are ever present today, and we envision the Y
supporting and advocating for these students. For example, the current movement to change the name of
Saunders Hall and the initiatives for undocumented students receiving in state tuition. The Y must do
more to address these pressing issues on campus, and to support the grassroots movements our students
are already initiating.
Therefore, our platform will focus on: breaking the barriers between the Y and UNC Campus; unifying
the Y membership; critically assessing the inclusivity of the Y; Infrastratural Ideas; and returning the Y
to a position of being a resource to current student movements.
OUR Y OUTLOOK
Vision: A more diverse Y, to empower those leading grassroots movements.
Mission: To engage students, the UNC campus, and communities in the
pursuit of social justice. To make sure everyone has the opportunity to get
involved. To hold the people with power (Chancellor, Y Director, SBP, etc.)
accountable for serving and advocating student interests.
Strategy and Responsibilities: In this platform, we are reiterating existing
policies and strategies that are effective from past leadership, while
incorporating a few new initiatives. Our responsibilities as leaders of the Y are
to be accessible, be the cohesive factor between all factions of the Y (Exec
board, Committees, Advisory Board, etc.), and to hold everyone including
ourselves accountable for fulfilling the mission and vision of the Y.
THE Y FOR EVERYONE
Values: We believe the Campus Y exist as living entity that works as the
“consciousness of the University”. This active “conscious” needs to be fluid
with an open-door policy. We want to facilitate open dialogue about the
disconnect of the Y from campus. Included in this dialogue, we want to
strive to create solutions to make people comfortable upon entering the Y.
Actions:
•  Re-evaluate the Y’s position on campus through candid discussions with
non-Y committee student leaders
•  Promote general campus knowledge about the Y by way of direct
visibility (i.e. Co-Pres. hours in the Pit)
•  Employ exec board members to actively sit-in on the meetings of non-Y
organizations
•  Hold Town Hall Meetings in the Ann Queen Lounge
THE TOOLS OF THE Y
Values: With a rich history inundated with a drive for social change, the
Campus Y has acquired many resources throughout the years. From the Y
Fund to the Global Gap Year Fellowship to the infamous Gender Neutral
Housing sleep-in, the Y has the strength and tools to guide Y committees and
UNC students from point A to point B, and providing resources for them to
continue to point C. We believe that the Y should exist as the one giving the
megaphone to the speaker of a rally, rather than the one with the megaphone.
Actions:
•  Promote initiatives between Y and Non-Y entities through Y Fund resource
•  Promotion of reservations of the Y space to all of campus
•  Emphasize the use of the Cube through partnership with point professors in
different majors/schools
•  Promote DevCo materials on the first floor of the Y
•  Clearly define roles of leaders in the Y to Y Members
UNIFICATION OF THE Y
Values: The inner workings of the Y are complicated. There is a hierarchical structure that does not coincide
with accessibility for members. We believe in integrating and transforming the hierarchical structure into a
transparent and comprehensive model. The Y exist as both its physical manifestation and the work done within
it. We will promote creating a culture for the Y to improve member’s experiences with the Y.
Actions:
•  Employ the Director of Administration to actively update the information around the building and on the
website (i.e. updating the photos of Co-Directors on the second floor.)
•  Create a bulletin board with Executive Members photos and responsibilities
•  Hold several meetings in the first month of the academic year to explain the structure of the Y to Y
members
•  Plan events focused on social-gatherings for Y members (i.e. Late Night in the Y; Finals Time with the Y; Y
BBQ)
•  Plan events geared for similar Y committees for members to meet and exchange ideas
•  Employ the Director of Evaluations to seek out immediate strategies for input by Y-Members (Available
Ipad at the front desk with evaluations form)
•  Train the front-desk operator in efficient know-how of all workings of the Y
•  Abandon the one-size fits all model for Cabinet meetings and move towards individualizing the relevance of
trainings to Co-Directors
•  Make every member of the Y a resource
•  Early conversations in the Summer and late Spring with Co-Chairs on committee needs and wants
PROMOTING THE Y AS AN
INCLUSIVE UNIT
Values: The demographics of the Y do not reflect the conversations being
had in the Y. The institutional complex of having privileged dialogue
about communities without those voices available inherently perpetuates
what the Y is working against. We want to work towards shifting the Y
in a direction of more inclusive thoughts and demographics.
Actions:
•  Hold roundtable discussions with leaders of multicultural
organizations
•  Promote members to feel comfortable upon going to the meetings of
these organizations
•  Continue to support MLK celebration week and Hispanic Heritage
Month
BRINGING THE Y BACK TO
THE ISSUES!
Values: The Y has remained silent on recent contemporary issues. We
find it integral to live up to the legacy of the Y and to remain in the
conversation of these issues. Though we recognize, we cannot (and do not
want to be) at the forefront of these issues, we do want to be a space for
action and resources.
Actions:
•  Send polls to members to gauge Y response on important movements
to respond quickly and efficiently
•  Remain in communication with other organizations on campus on
issues through consistently promoting events and discussions between
leaders
•  Help facilitate, advocate for, provide resources to campus wide
student groups
Y STRUCTURE
We believe that the Y has a strong structural foundation. We are lucky that
the legacy of Y leadership has established a clear code of conduct and ethics
to follow. We support and will maintain the past goals and strategies for
each component of the campus Y.
We will retain the aforementioned responsibilities from past years for these
positions and will continue to morph strategies and goals upon selecting our
executive board. We will do this to individualize the position and enhance
the experience of working for the Y. We also believe that positions are
rigid, yet fluid. We respect the development of the Cube, the Bonner
Leader Program, and Y Global.
We respect the directors of each program at the Y and will adhere to their
specific values and actions.
Y STRUCTURE IDEAS
Cabinet: Summer conversations on deciding which trainings
are needed for executive meetings. Match committee needs
with resources from other committees.
Advisory – Connect Y members with Advisory Board.
Co-Presidents: Be the cohesion between all groups.
Executive Board: Hold them accountable for their
responsibilities and make sure they are fulfilling Y mission.
Staff: Encourage them to be knowledgeable about the Y and
be ambassadors of the Y.
Director of Administration: Continually innovate the
look of the Y.
Director of Communications: Strengthen marketing
strategies to reach outside of the Y.
Director of Development: Connect resources to the
needs.
Director of Evaluations: Have Non-Y students. evaluate
those in the Y; contrast with Y members responses.
FMALS: Mentorship with the Co-Presidents, an Executive
Assistant of sorts.
Bonner Leader: Increase the understanding of the Bonner
Program in the Y.
Global Gap Year Fellowship: Help Gappl create a global
database for future students who take gap years.
Director of Outreach: Connect with MADO, SBP,
Chancellor, DMA, Admissions, and provide resources,
support, advocacy work, networking connections, for
committees. Connect the Y with the rest of campus.
Director of Finance: Manage the Y’s funds, help the
committees manage their budgets, search for sustainable
funding sources, update everyone on budget monthly.
Cube: Connect more to undergraduates and to the wider
campus community so everyone knows they are a resources.
Connect with Business and Entrepreneur classes, 1789, and
Launch.
Committees: Keep doing you. Provide support and creative
freedom for our committees. Make sure that we are in
continuous open communication and always know what our
committees are up to.
Director of Membership: work to plan Y social events for
the greater Y community. Have statistics on how many
members, what year they are, and what they are involved in.
Promote the Y more and encourage more people to join and
get involved.
IN SUM: THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO
Bringing the Y Back to the Issues
Be Actively Conscious, Questioning, and Curious
Promote Inclusivity
Connect the Y to Campus
None of this can be done without you! Please know that we are open
to talk about anything in this Platform and that it can be a work in
progress, updated or altered to better serve members of the Y and
campus community.
Please come and talk to us so we can get to know you and learn how to
best serve the Y and all of campus as Campus Y Co-Presidents!
THANK YOU!
By: Jerome and Cecilia!