ASI President Lucy Yu was joined by Cal Poly Pomona President Soraya Coley for the Oct. 8 session of Lattes with Lucy. The event was a Q&A Zoom webinar curated to answer anonymous questions posed by CPP attendees, forgoing Lattes with Lucy’s normally pre-recorded format.
“Lattes with Lucy has become one of my biggest keys of communication with our student body,” said Yu. “Now that we are in a virtual setting, the original idea of Lattes with Lucy became more important. Since we are not on campus, I had to come up with another system of communicating with the student body.”
A key topic that was explored was CPP’s growth as a community in seeking racial justice. Students expressed a concern with initiating social justice throughout the campus community, without having to knock another race down.
“I am so glad these questions have surfaced and I want to deal with the underlying premise,” said Coley. “Over time, a narrative has been created which states that we can only have winners or losers and that if ‘you’ win and have access to something, then ‘I’ lose and can’t have that same access. A campus thrives when you focus on a win-win for the population. When everyone is able to participate, that’s when you get a mix of talent, cultural experiences and gender experiences.”
During this session, students also voiced their concerns on missing out on college campus activities and social life. New transfer student Amani Kabbara offered a creative option for the student body.
“I would love it if someone created a video clip with some of the animals on the campus and other areas we are missing out on. I think this will keep us excited,” said Kabbara. “Each episode should be from a different site on campus, like; a historical area, the music department, or the art department. It is my first year as a transfer and I feel like I am missing out on a lot of college activities. Each guest of Lattes with Lucy should bring a different type of interest and major.”
Other students expressed an interest in continuing online course options, even after the university opens its doors again. Many attendees found that they spend less money getting to the campus, parking and paying for food.
“I don’t think anything was answered regarding future semesters because their information comes from CSU Admin,” said fourth-year finance student Alex Estrada. “They love keeping everybody in the dark about information regarding virtual schooling and tuition and they just expect everybody to be okay with that.”
Due to the nature of the pandemic, Coley could not offer specifics as to when the campus would be accessible again.
“As a school, we are learning how this has been advantageous and in what ways it has been challenging for students and faculty. We refer to this as the new normal, even though we don’t know yet,” said Coley.
In future Lattes with Lucy sessions, students can continue to share their thoughts and ask questions of both Yu and the cycle of planned guests.
For upcoming Lattes with Lucy dates, stay updated at ASI’s instagram page @asicpp.
