Savannah Baker, Visionaries Inspiring Black Empowered Students co-chair, presented a motion to ASWSU during its Wednesday night meeting, requesting that WSU students be able to fly Seattle-Tacoma and inspire students to come to the annual VIBES conference.  

ASWSU senators voted to approve the motion.

The VIBES conference allows underrepresented groups from the Seattle-Tacoma area to visit WSU and tour the campus. In the past few years, Baker said there has been a lack of attendance at the conference, and she intends to change this. 

Instead of just handing out flyers, VIBES wants to speak to students face-to-face. Baker said VIBES wants to garner more involvement from students in the Seattle-Tacoma area and see if anyone has any questions.  

Baker said VIBES is also partnering with the Black Student Athlete Association. With this partnership, they hope younger students will see what it is like to be an athlete and participate in in-depth tours. Students will not simply walk around WSU’s campus for two hours and go home — they will eat in the dining halls and see what classrooms and dorms look like.

Gabby Rodriguez-Garcilazo, director of health and safety, also presented upcoming campus events during the meeting.   

Next month, Rodriguez-Garcilazo is planning to get students involved in safety and mental awareness of themselves and others, she said. 

Rodriguez-Garcilazo said she will coordinate events, like the Annual Race for Campus Safety in honor of Lauren McCluskey, and Chinook self-defense classes taught by women for women, which will raise awareness for important issues students may face, like sexual violence.  

Other events ranging from Oct. 10-14 include the Rebirth of Color art workshop, petting dogs, or a yoga and meditation workshop to help students focus on their mental health and clear their minds. Rodriguez-Garcilazo said each one of these events will be free of charge for students and open to all.